Black Honey
by Ava Chanel
Summary: Starfire and Robin are officially an item, but what does that mean when the resident empath is stuck living between their respective bedrooms? Finding a new bunk buddy in Beast Boy was certainly not her first choice, and when she engages in a strange, night time activity, how long before the changeling notices what she's up to? BBRae, some RobStar. Complete! Epilogue to follow.
1. Part 1

**A/N:** _Look at me, writing all these one-shots and two-shots. Guess I need a minor hiatus from multi chapter fic writing. Enjoy._

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 _"who a person kisses_  
 _sleeps with or even marries_  
 _is of no real consequence._  
 _it's who a person misses_  
 _in the middle of night_  
 _who matters, who is of_  
 _most importance..."_

\- Beau Taplin

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 **Black Honey**

 **Part 1**

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The Titans were happy for Robin and Starfire.

Genuinely happy.

It had been a long, long time coming, after all. The couple had been dancing around one another for as long as anyone could remember, neither ever bold enough to act on their genuine feelings for each other. Robin had been too thick headed, and Starfire apparently too subtle and unsure. So, when they had finally established their new, romantic relationship, every other Titan had been thrilled with the news.

That is, until their incessant romping sessions.

No one could blame them; something vague about teenagers, hormones, and pent up sexual frustration while living in close quarters. Not to mention, the bubbling sexual tension that had finally culminated into one hot, passionate affair after all those years. It was well earned, well deserved, and perfectly understandable that both the Titans leader and the alien beauty couldn't keep their hands off each other. Once they'd tasted that forbidden fruit, it was near impossible to go back to anything else.

When the 'sleepovers' grew in frequency, and often throughout the wee hours of the early morning, the other Titans put up with it. They dealt with the lust filled cries, the sound of the creaking bedframe, of the steady banging against the thin walls while the mattress springs squeaked beneath their weight. It was all sweet in the beginning, and it was always nice to see the usually tense boy wonder unwind and relax after spending a relaxing evening with his girlfriend.

However, eventually, it became grating.

Most especially for Raven.

As she had come to learn, it was extremely inconvenient that her room had to be sandwiched between both Starfire and Robin's bedrooms, so it never mattered which one they chose to inhabit for the night, she was always subjected to the guttural sounds of their lovemaking.

She had tried everything to drown them out. Raven had initially started going to bed earlier, hoping to fall asleep by the time they started in on it, only to be awoken in the middle of the night by one of Starfire's high pitched moans. She tried stuffing her pillow over her head, but her empathic abilities could pick up on the nauseating, primal emotions that seeped into her room through the vents and her doorway. They knotted her stomach and made her heart flutter, all the while she fed off the lust like it was her own body consumed by the fanning flames of such passion. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't meditate, she couldn't think straight half the time, her mind clouded by hormones and emotions she wasn't used to experiencing.

Eventually, Raven would give up on sleeping in her own bed entirely. She'd wait until everyone was tuckered out for the night, then slip out of her bedroom and head for the couch with pillow and blanket under her arm. Since she was always the first one up in the mornings anyways, she'd rush back to her room before anyone even noticed where she'd been all night. The sofa certainly didn't have the same level of comfort her bed did, but any reprieve from Robin and Starfire was well worth the compromise.

Of course, her other option had been to confront the two teens about their late night activities, but that conversation could go wrong in so many ways, and Raven didn't really see it changing anything at all. How does one go about making love 'quietly' and with less vibrant emotion? Raven may have been a bit new to the experience, but even she was aware such things were impossible to control when deep in the throes of passion. Besides, she hardly even knew _how_ to broach the topic, let alone politely ask them to put a stop to it or, in the least, quiet down.

After a couple of unperturbed nights of somewhat successful sleeping on the big, red sofa in the common room, Raven was slowly growing accustomed to her new habit. Only, nothing good ever lasted long.

One night, as she'd prepared to ditch her bed in favor of the comfortable couch yet again after picking up on Starfire's shrill giggles from next door, she was quick to realize that she was not to be alone in the lounge after all.

She could hear the sounds from the television echoing down in the silence of the hallway, despite the lowered volume. Raven, so curious and so perplexed by this new development, quietly shuffled along quicker to investigate the source of the sound. What she found, along with the growing noises of the TV as she inched closer, were familiar voices as well.

"Aw, hell no! You cheated, string bean!"

"Dude, how do you even cheat in this game? It's a race!"

"I don't know what sort of slimy tricks you got up your sleeve! All I know is, you were dead last by the third lap and then, by the end, you came in first! That does not smell right!"

"You're just being a sore loser. It's called skill, Cy. Maybe you should look up the word."

"Oh, you did not just go there, B."

"Best two out of three?"

"…You're on! If I win, you have all my dish duty for the next month!"

"Fine! But if I win, you have to take care of all my dirty laundry for the month!"

"That is disgusting, and totally unfair!"

"How is it unfair?! I have to touch your meat slops for a month!"

"And I gotta touch your nasty underwear!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy went at it for a while yet by the time either of them clued into Raven's presence in the corridor.

Just as Victor was getting ready to chew out the changeling for the umpteenth time, Beast Boy stopped him by pressing a firm palm against his robotic chest, and sniffed at the air skeptically. "…Raven?"He called out tentatively, his brows scrunching up in confusion.

She couldn't help the way her heated blood rushed to her face upon learning that Beast Boy had memorized her scent. Knowing she was caught, she stepped forth out of the shadows and tried to appear more nonchalant about being discovered than she actually was.

Both Titans stared at her standing there in her skimpy pajamas, clutching her silken blanket and fluffy, oversized pillow to her chest. Beast Boy and Cyborg had sat up on the couch to acknowledge her, puzzled by her sudden existence in the otherwise dark, quiet tower.

"Uhm, Rae, what are you doin' up so late?" Cyborg asked her in a quiet voice.

"I should ask the same of you," she replied coolly.

Beast Boy and Cyborg exchanged looks, almost like they could read one another's mind perfectly. The two of them were often in sync with one another anyways, Raven figured. Judging by the spike of nervousness in their emotional scales, she was certain that they were hiding something from her.

Garfield scratched the back of his head. "Guess our gaming session just went on later than we'd anticipated," he lied.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to wake you up, Rae," Cyborg apologized.

Before she could think of a coherent sentence, Beast Boy pointed out the more glaring observation that their other teammate seemed to have missed. "Uh, why do you have your pillow and blanket, Raven?"

She glanced at the two of them then, startled and taken off guard by the unforeseen question. Raven gripped the soft fabric in her arms tightly. "I…I was just going to take them to the wash," she tried to lie, her voice uncharacteristically quivering.

Cyborg raised a suspicious brow. "Really...? At two thirty in the morning?"

Suddenly feeling uncomfortably flushed under her teammate's scrutinizing eyes, Raven panicked. She hated being the centre of attention, and she'd always been a pretty bad liar, so whenever she was called out for her bluff, she'd grow flustered and defensive, like a cornered animal.

With a fresh wave of annoyance overcoming her, Raven glared and barked back at her unsuspecting teammates, "Yeah, because it makes _so much_ more sense to be playing video games at this time when Mr. Robot over here needs, at minimum, a full nine hours of system recharge for optimal function!"

Beast Boy flinched at the coldness in Raven's tone while Cyborg appeared embarrassed by her keen memory. Finally, he sighed deeply and raised his mechanical hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. You got us, Rae. Truth is…I ain't been gettin' much beauty sleep anyways. I figured it's better I spent the time kicking Beast Boy's scrawny butt at video games than having to lie still and listen to…," he trailed off, his human eye darting to the floor nervously. It was as if he was having a hard time formulating the right words for such a taboo subject.

Gulping, he licked his dry lips, and made strange motions with his hands to help him elaborate. "… _ya know_."

Much to Raven's surprise, even the changeling looked to be a mite bashful when the elephant in the room was acknowledged. "What Cy's trying to say is, well, that, uh, Rob and Star go at it like rabbits in heat, and, I mean, as nice as it is for _them_ , it gets hard to…fall asleep," he explained hurriedly, his words nearly jumbling together in his rush. Like an old band-aid on a freshly scabbed wound, Beast Boy simply wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

It did not escape Raven when he tried to amend his comment by the end.

Finally finding some common ground, the empath sighed as her features settled into a defeated frown. "You too, huh?" She conceded, padding over on bare feet to take a seat in between the two boys.

She closed her eyes and ran her fingers over her tired, aching lids. "They've become… _insufferable_ ," she complained breathily, slumping into the soft cushion.

"Tell me about it," Beast Boy agreed, his teeth grinding together in frustration.

"I feel for ya, Rae. Being between the both of their rooms, that's got to be the worst. I just figured you had a solid pair of ear plugs or somethin', which is why you put up with it for so long." Cyborg patted her shoulder in comfort.

She could feel Beast Boy shifting next to her. "Yeah, Cy and I only really have to deal with it occasionally. My room's across from yours, so I've gotten pretty good at tuning it out. Cy's bunked close to Robin's room, so when they're in Star's, he's usually fine, too. But _you_ …" The changeling gave her a pitying, sincere smile.

Raven rubbed at her temples and let out another long, drawn out sigh. "Just my luck, really," she moaned hopelessly, sinking even deeper into her seat.

"Wait, B, if you're across from Rae's room, you probably don't get anything at all!" Cyborg pointed out, his tone raising an octave upon coming to realize such an obvious fact.

This caused Raven to snap back to attention, focusing her accusing, amethyst toned gaze on the green skinned boy beside her.

Beast Boy looked alarmed, breaking out into an uncomfortable sweat as the glaring spotlight had suddenly shifted over to him. "Uh, well, you see, I've got pretty sensitive… _ears_. Yeah, ears. Besides, I wouldn't want to let Cy beat my high score while I was sleeping, you know!"

It sounded like excuses, and Raven couldn't shake the feeling that there was still something Beast Boy wasn't sharing with them, not even with his closest friend on the team.

"I see," Raven pondered monotonously, her eyes like icy violet slits when she narrowed her gaze at him.

"Right. So, Rae, how long you been sleepin' on the couch, anyways?" Cyborg directed his questions back to the empath, ignoring the fidgeting green boy on the other end of the couch. It was obvious they weren't going to get any more out of him on the subject for the time being, anyways.

Raven had to think about that one. She stared up at the ceiling in deep concentration, as she rummaged through her memory. With a long inhale through her nose, she answered, "Almost a month now. Maybe three or four times a week."

It weirded her out that she was always aware of Robin and Starfire's… _schedule_.

Cyborg whistled. "That is a _lot_ of…uh…never mind."

Under his breath, Raven could have sworn she heard Beast Boy mumble, "Lucky jerk…"

When she looked over at him, he was scowling at a spot on the wall, his arms folded over his chest, a gentle rumble emanating from his throat.

"I know this might seem a bit crazy, but hear me out. I think we should at least openly consider it…Have you ever thought that, maybe, we should _tell_ them about all this?" Cyborg's voice of reason drew Raven back to reality like the pull of gravity.

Her eyes widened as both her and Beast Boy cried out protests at the same time.

Raven screeched, "Are you serious?!"

"Do you have a death wish by starbolts?!" Beast Boy shrieked.

"More like mortification," Raven groaned miserably, clutching her hair at the mere thought.

"Okay, so that's a hard pass," Cyborg commented, mentally checking off that idea.

Beast Boy threw his back into the sofa, lightly bouncing off the soft, red cushion. He then stared unblinking at the television screen, still frozen on the pause menu of the game the two Titans had been previously playing.

"Still, Rae, you've got to admit that you have it the worst. There's no way you can function like this if you keep sleeping on the couch. I mean, you do know they've done it on here a couple of times, too, right?" Cyborg informed the demoness.

Raven blanched before slowly taking her hands off the edge of the couch, and visibly stiffening from being in direct contact with it. Beast Boy on the other hand, sniffed at the cushion a couple of times. "Hmm, nope. Smells like laundry detergent, pizza, Silkie, and…farts." Garfield scrunched up his nose in disgust at the mention of the last odour.

"Let's just skip past the part about how you would even know what _it_ smells like, and talk about whose farts it is you're whiffin' on _my_ couch!" Cyborg fumed, his jaw clenched in anger as he fixed his menacing glare onto the changeling.

"Are you telling me…that I've been sleeping on this contaminated sofa all this time? That I've practically _inhaled_ their…their…," Raven couldn't finish her sentence, beginning to feel physically ill at the thought. Her stomach turned, and she clutched at it in an effort to keep the cramps at bay.

"Relax, Rae! I wash the covers during my turn at laundry duty. Can't say the same for everyone else, though," Cyborg attempted to console the shivering girl while shooting Garfield a knowing glare.

Raven gagged. "Ugh, where am I supposed to sleep _now_?! The floor?!" She exclaimed, choosing to stand up and distance herself from the object of her turmoil.

"Way to go, tin can. Now you've traumatized Rae," chided Beast Boy.

Cyborg, flabbergasted by his teammate's bold accusation, objected, "That isn't _my_ fault! I saved the girl, if anything!"

Raven began pacing in front of them, grabbing her hair as she tried to think, while also pushing her worst thoughts to the back of her mind. Beast Boy and Cyborg watched her before exchanging worrying glances.

"Uhm, you know, Raven, my room is, uh, pretty unaffected by Robin and Star's, uhm," Beast Boy paused, clearing his throat with a forced cough, "night time fun. So, I mean, if you really wanted to, I could-" He never got to finish his sentence.

Raven stopped pacing and fixed her eyes on the changeling, silencing him instantly with a chilling look. In a soft but menacing voice, she growled, "I am _not_ sleeping in your room, Beast Boy."

Both Cyborg and Garfield shivered from the nip in the air after Raven's icy declaration. There was a finality in her tone that said suggesting otherwise would have been equivalent to a death sentence.

Nonetheless, Victor had to try, now that the idea was in his head.

"Normally, I'd agree with you there, Rae. Ain't nobody deserve to smell the scent of the entire animal kingdom in a cramped room. However, how much do you value a good night's sleep?" Cyborg postulated very, very carefully. It was always thin ice with the empath, especially concerning Beast Boy.

Raven's initial reaction was to vehemently argue the point, but after she recalled the many, _many_ sleepless nights in her room, fighting with her pillow and her covers to shut them out, she was shocked to find herself actually considering the idea.

How bad was it, that she'd be willing to share a room with Beast Boy, of all people?

It would be a couple times a month, and, during Starfire's lady days, even less. Once her eyes were shut, she wouldn't even realize where she was anymore, and it wouldn't matter again until the next morning. Beast Boy slept in all the time anyways, so she'd slip out before anyone would even notice where she'd spent the night.

Her features must have unconsciously softened because a small but grim victory smile tugged at the corners of Cyborg's mouth.

The empath had spent many agonizing nights tormented by impure thoughts and emotions, tossing and turning in the heat of her bed, overcome with an insatiable lust she could not douse. Sometimes, she'd catch herself thinking that taking on her father a second time wouldn't have been half as bad as the invading emotions that consumed her body.

To answer her own question; it was pretty bad when fighting an interdimensional demon seemed like a better alternative.

Raven's eyes shot open, and she turned to acknowledge Beast Boy, who was currently too cowardly to meet her eyes.

When she finally caught the changeling's attention after boring her stare into the top of his green mop of hair, Raven posed her question in a tone as unfeeling as she could manage. "Do I at least get the bed?"

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 **A/N:** _The rest of the story will be posted soon, as I sort of wrote up too much content to stay a one-shot. So, it'll be a two-shot, with the second chapter probably being a lot longer. Feedback is appreciated. :)_


	2. Part 2

**A/N:** _I've been replying to all the reviews, but a thank you again to everyone following, reading, reviewing and favouriting this. A shout out to amistillfeeling for helping me brainstorm this idea out of nowhere. Go check out any of their work if you haven't already! :)_

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 **Black Honey**

 **Part 2**

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Raven didn't drink. Alcohol had a putrid flavor, and she could never fathom how anyone could enjoy tormenting themselves in such a way. It was an assault on one's taste buds, with a nasty after taste just for good measure. A back wash of lingering poison might have fared better and, if it didn't, you'd be dead before it hit you. Alcohol was a whole different concept; it was intoxicating and, after some time, the pungency itself didn't matter anymore. Only the buzz, the illusion of freedom of one's spirit from the chains of the body, the feeling of being on something called a 'cloud nine', was all that was important in the moment.

Raven didn't drink, but she was starting to understand what it might have been like.

It wasn't always about the bitter after taste, or the tang of sugary sweetness that left the mouth still somewhat parched. Alcohol was never about the actual alcohol; it was everything to do with indulgence. Like a fine wine, crisp and smooth and oh so alluring in it's pristine bottle or poured in a glass, there was something about it that made an individual lick their lips in anticipation, in wanting. Even liquor stores embellished the beautification of alcohol; whether it was the intricate design of the glass bottles they came in, or the artistry in the labels, there was a richness to spirits that reeled in those mature enough to understand and truly enjoy its appeal.

As Raven lay in a bed that was not her own, and gazed across at the peaceful face before her, she would agree that everything could be a form of art, even something she'd typically not appreciate…

* * *

 _Before…_

"There needs to be a few ground rules," Raven stated calmly, her arms folded over her chest as she tried to ignore Beast Boy's unabashed, bubbling excitement.

"Naturally," Cyborg agreed with a shrug of his shoulders.

Raven regarded Beast Boy with an unflappable expression. "You have to clean your room," she instructed in a deadpan manner.

Beast Boy nodded vigorously, his shaggy, green hair moving with him. "I can do that! It's not dirty so much as it's just messy. Mostly just clothes and stuff thrown around."

Raven and Cyborg both raised an eyebrow at the changeling. He glanced between them like a confused, lost puppy. " _Dudes_! How little do you think of me?!" Beast Boy fretted.

"Have you _smelled_ your room? My man, Robin's gym bag is like a _bouquet of roses_ in comparison, and that thing is basically one giant, sweaty armpit all year round," countered Cyborg.

Beast Boy appeared offended, his jaw hanging open and his eyes wide as he stammered to formulate a defense. "Okay, that was like, _one_ time! Silkie likes to use my closet as a bathroom, okay? Rotting food, on the other hand, is seriously nasty, and my sensitive nose can't handle smells like that!"

At this, Raven couldn't help the perplexed look that crossed her features; she'd nearly forgotten how keen Garfield's sense of smell could be. As strange as it was, his reasoning seemed somehow…valid. After all, he'd been able to pick up her own personal scent when she'd been spying on him and Cyborg only moments before. Not to mention, it was a common occurrence that Robin used Beast Boy to help sniff out certain people or things during an investigation.

"Rotting food don't make your clothes smell like they've been washed in sewage," Cyborg sniped, fixing Garfield with a glare from both his human eye and his other, blaring red, cybernetic eye.

Beast Boy growled back, "I'm practically the _entire_ animal kingdom, Cy! So, excuse me if, unlike someone else, I don't smell like a _bag of bolts_ whenever I work up a sweat in a fight!"

The two friends were starting to encroach upon one another's personal space, glowering at one another. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Retaliated Cyborg.

"Just that I don't smell like you, but that doesn't mean I always smell _bad_! All I'm trying to say is, my room may be messy and disorganized, but I'm not gross!" Beast Boy then turned to acknowledge Raven with a stern look, his features hardening in a way that made him appear older than he was. "I can clean my room, Rae. It's not a problem."

Slightly unnerved by his sudden maturity, the empath was unable to hold his gaze. "Uh, good." Raven nodded, somewhat skeptical, but not wishing to drag out the argument any further. Cyborg was still fuming and muttering under his breath, while Beast Boy was doing his best to ignore him despite his good hearing.

Raven started to pace, her hands clasped behind her back, and her fingers skimming just past the hem of her tiny, black shorts. She could feel their inquisitive eyes boring into her, following her as she walked instead of levitated. "Second rule; you absolutely cannot tell _anyone_ about this, and I mean _anyone_ , Beast Boy, not even your pet snail."

There was a low but sinister threat in her gravelly tone when she spoke, eliciting a gulp from the two young men seated before her.

Telling Robin or Starfire would quickly put an end to her plan, along with any hope of decent sleep whenever the two decided to get frisky at night. Drawing unwanted attention from the young, Titan couple was precisely why the others hadn't even bothered to discuss the option of the spare rooms in the tower. Although their home had been designed with that in mind, due to a lack of use, those supposed bedrooms had quickly turned into various storage and activity rooms instead. The option would have been to clear out one of the many storage spaces the Titans had accumulated over the years. However, since that would have been a hefty undertaking, there was no way Robin and Starfire wouldn't find out, and grow suspicious. A confrontation of that ilk was sure to go awry, and most certainly embarrass all parties involved.

Only one guest room on the main floor had stayed true to it's nature, and it was the only one Raven wouldn't dare to consider.

Terra's room.

After the former Titan's unfortunate demise, none of the others had had the heart to dismantle it. Most especially since Beast Boy was known to frequent the geomancer's old sleeping quarters whenever he sought a brief reprieve or, as only Raven could glean, he simply felt lonely. Although the broken hearted young man eventually tapered off his visits, the Titans all silently seemed to agree that Terra's room would stay, indefinitely, in her honor.

That left virtually all the other rooms in the Tower that were currently in no shape to be slept in, with a few spares on separate, unattended floors. It went without saying that Raven didn't entirely feel comfortable being that distanced from her friends. Although she did like her space, and kept to herself quite often, the idea of being on an entirely abandoned floor of the tower left her feeling uncomfortably vulnerable.

The Titans' emotions often cascaded over top her, like a warm blanket of energy and thoughts that lulled her into a peaceful slumber. Currently, Robin and Starfire's emotions were too much to handle, but when all the others were dozing softly in their bed, or consumed by a television show, movie, or game, they blended together in a peaceful harmony that Raven considered familiar, like an ancient lullaby. Having grown so accustomed to the security of their presence, the thought of being away from it for a night gave her some mild anxiety.

That had left Raven with the only options of the couch, her currently intolerable bedroom, or Beast Boy's shy but kind offer of his room.

The sofa was unquestionably out, now that she knew there wasn't a single surface in the common room the two lovebirds _hadn't_ defiled.

Her own private suite was proven to have been a failure repeatedly, no matter what she'd tried. Unless she was willing to suffer through sleepless nights and an insatiable craving, there was no way Raven would go back.

Beast Boy's room was practically the only road for her to take, the light at the end of the bleak, dark tunnel. Never, ever did Raven think that she'd have missed his ridiculous bunk beds that he'd long since replaced. Until now, of course.

"I won't tell, I promise," the changeling replied softly, fully aware what it would mean if he dared to run his mouth.

Victor cleared his throat. "Anything else, Rae? May as well get it down in front of a witness while you still can," Cyborg added cheekily, earning him a dubious look from his best friend.

Raven paused, bringing her fingers to her small chin in contemplation. Her brows furrowed in thought as she racked her brain for anymore possible addendums she should have in place. She knew there were loads more, but couldn't seem to think of them when put on the spot. Raven couldn't help but feel like there was almost an expectation from her other teammates that she ought to have more to say on the matter, especially when she was agreeing to the ludicrous notion of sharing a room with _Beast Boy_ , of all people.

Desperate for something and grasping at straws, Raven went with the only other pet peeve she couldn't tolerate in a roommate. She instantly snapped her attention back at the changeling, causing him to flinch at the sudden coldness in her violet eyes. "If you snore, so help me, I will smite you," she seethed in a husky voice.

After a moment of impenetrable silence, Cyborg threw his head back and laughed, deep and hearty.

Beast Boy, on the other hand, shifted uncomfortably in his seat, as if he'd been sitting on shards of glass instead of a sofa cushion. In a strange turn of events, it appeared that he was the one taking the situation far more seriously than Victor.

"I'll be as quiet as a mouse. Besides, Cyborg's the one who snores more than anyone. He could probably blow the roof off if you let him. Why do you think he didn't offer up his personal spot instead?" Beast Boy nudged his best friend, giving him a matching, verdant glare to get him to quiet down.

The taller man's smile faded, replaced with a tight-lipped frown in response to Beast Boy's accusation. "I didn't offer _my_ room because I don't sleep on a nice, big, comfortable mattress. Besides, I ain't exactly _spared_ from the night howling if it happens to be in spikey head's bedroom," challenged Cyborg.

Beast Boy scratched at the back of his head while sighing dejectedly. "You should really look into soundproofing the walls or something, Cy. I'm surprised you didn't consider it before during the last upgrade you installed."

"I know that, you think I don't know that? I haven't exactly thought of a good reason to do so without tipping _them_ off. Once I come up with something, I'll make it happen, and Raven can go back to sleeping soundly in her own room," Cyborg explained, irritable with himself for having overlooked such a minor hiccup. It wasn't like having soundproof walls had ever been a necessity beforehand.

Besides, it wasn't always the _noise_ that bothered Raven the most anyways, but she couldn't very well tell _them_ that.

Beast Boy's gaze flitted towards the empath, catching her somewhat off guard. Then, he stood up abruptly and extended his hand towards her. "Sounds like we got ourselves a deal," he grinned toothily.

She stared at the gloved digits of his hand before apprehensively reaching forward and touching his warm palm with her own thin, pale fingers. Raven's reaction to the gesture would have been akin to her encountering an alien life form that _didn't_ look like Starfire.

Beast Boy clasped her hand tightly and gave it a quick shake before she could utter a word of protest. "Looks like we're gonna be bunk buddies, Rae!" Beast Boy chirped happily.

Except, ever since the shapeshifter had upgraded his sleeping quarters, he couldn't really use the term 'bunk buddies' anymore.

Raven had known he had made the change a while back, saying something about how he typically fell off the small frame of his old bed due to moving around too much in his sleep. What she hadn't known was how big his new 'adult' mattress was after he'd eliminated the bunk beds.

She'd only truly witnessed its impressive size and luxury on the initial evening that she'd been brave enough to go make good on their bargain.

When Raven had gone knocking on Beast Boy's door on the very first night since their agreement, she had been a bundle of nerves. She was on edge, pacing in her room while whispering her calming mantra until she'd finally steeled herself for what she was about to do.

Once she'd managed to leave the confines of her bedroom and brave the hallway, she found herself doing the exact same thing, only now in the corridor outside Beast Boy's door. She continued to both talk herself in and out of it repeatedly, her sweaty hands clenching and unclenching at her sides, while her heart fluttered in her chest.

Raven didn't know why she was so nervous; Beast Boy had reassured her that he'd cleaned up his room, that she could sleep on the bed while he'd sleep on the floor, and that he wouldn't make a peep, all so that she could get a good night's sleep. Yet, it had still taken her half the night to work up the nerve to even rasp her knuckles against his door.

From outside, she could already hear Starfire purring in her room, and it made Raven anxious for the green skinned boy to let her in. She heard the locks finally slip out of place before the intimidating, metal gate slid open to reveal a disheveled, drowsy Beast Boy in the entryway.

He greeted her with a yawn, his emerald eyes half lidded with sleep, and his hair a wild green mess of soft, thick waves. He didn't appear to be surprised by her presence at all, and she could tell that he'd probably fallen asleep watching a marathon of his favourite sci-fi television series. His room was cast in darkness behind him, with nothing but the unnatural glow from the TV screen illuminating the space around it. Some moonlight also filtered through and cast long shadows on his floor and bed, but otherwise, it was pitch black. From the looks of it, he'd passed out on the beanbag chair, judging from the fresh indent on it, along with his crisp, untouched bed sheets.

Raven clutched her pillow and comforter tightly to her chest, feeling awkward and shy as she averted her gaze to the floor, not knowing what to say or how to proceed. Just like that, her confidence seemed to have left her stranded in the face of confrontation.

Suddenly, it was as if someone had slapped the changeling hard across the mouth when they were both subjected to a low, long, muffled moan drifting into the hallway from Starfire's room. Raven heard him sniff, and then he was wide awake, quickly yanking her inside with a pull on her arm, and swiftly locking his door behind them. Raven stumbled in as a frazzled Beast Boy grabbed a spare sheet and tucked it into the narrow, open crack below his door. Raven watched him all the while, too stunned to make a move or say a thing.

Only when he stood back up, leaned against his doorframe, and sighed with relief, did she finally find her voice again. "Uh, what was _that_ about?"

Beast Boy replied with a nervous chuckle and a shake of his hands. "Nothing! I just, uh, want to make sure we keep as much of the, uh… _noises_ out as possible."

Raven narrowed her eyes at him, trying to discern if he was lying, or in the least, keeping something from her. Whatever she nearly deciphered, Beast Boy had quickly changed emotional gears and stretched his arms up, giving another long, audible yawn. Raven noticed that he was still wearing his uncanny, spandex tight uniform. She'd never once caught the teen in a pair of pajamas, now that she thought about it.

"Make yourself comfortable," he instructed nonchalantly, walking past her to turn down the volume of the television.

That was when Raven took the opportunity to regard his room. She'd seldom ever had reason to venture to Beast Boy's quarters, and so every visit was somewhat extraordinary. Even in the dark, she could tell he'd made the effort to keep it clean; all his dirty clothes were piled up in his hamper, his bed was made, his games and consoles were neatly organized in their respective spots, and she could actually see the carpet. Other than the action figures that littered his shelves and the posters that decorated his walls, Beast Boy's room could have been _anyone's_ room.

Something shiny caught the moonlight on Beast Boy's desk, and Raven walked over to curiously examine it. She couldn't help the way her brows shot up as the inexplicable item seemed as out of place as a vase of flowering roses in Robin's office. In disbelief, she approached the set of unlit, scented candles, and picked up one of the hefty, glass jars, squinting at the label in the faint starlight that slipped into his room.

" _Sage and citrus_?" She read aloud, unable to mask her incredulity.

Beast Boy, who had gone back to curl up in the beanbag seat, turned his head to see what Raven had been blabbering about. Immediately, his curious, half interested expression morphed into alarm as he stood up and dashed towards her, snatching the candle jar out of her hand with lightning speed.

When she regarded him with another suspicious look, he placed it back onto the top of the desk with the others, and murmured, "Would you believe me if I said I got a little self conscious when Cy told me I smelled bad?"

Raven scoffed at him, "That's hardly an excuse. Since when did you start buying _scented candles_? I thought your sensitive nose couldn't handle them." She recalled a particular, green skinned boy taking issue with the lavender scented incense she'd once burned in the common room. Robin had promptly forbidden her from doing it again, after Beast Boy had frequently complained about the lingering smell.

The changeling nervously itched at the tip of his sloped nose with a single index finger. If he hadn't been so green, he'd have certainly been blushing crimson. "I…I like how that one smells. It's…relaxing," he admitted.

As if on impulse, Raven leaned over to get a whiff of the candle she'd just picked up, and was surprised to find that it was indeed a pleasant, subtle aroma. It was also somehow familiar, but before she could put her finger on it, Beast Boy had pulled her pillow and blanket from her arms, and had effectively startled her yet again that night. As she hadn't expected it, her grip had been weak, and he'd managed to steal them before she could even think about putting up a fight.

He then stalked over to his king sized bed and tossed her pillow near the headboard where he gently fluffed it back into shape. Then, he fixed her blanket over top the sheets, and left it open so that she could crawl in. Raven stood stock still, mortified and feeling somewhat naked without her shield of bed things.

"There, all good to go!" Beast Boy exclaimed, admiring his handiwork with a boastful smile, his hands resting on his slim hips.

When he turned to look at Raven, he winked and teased, "And you guys said that I couldn't keep my room tidy!"

Raven gawked at him, lips slightly parted as she remained frozen to the spot next to his candles.

"Also, I know I promised I would keep quiet, but, if you don't mind, I'm going to put some headphones in and watch something. I sort of…can't fall asleep without noise," he admitted sheepishly.

Raven, finally coming out of her trance, shook her head, her short, dark hair untucking from behind her ears. "That's fine," she croaked before learning how to use her legs again. She hobbled towards the bed, clambering onto the cold mattress where her exposed skin chilled to the touch as soon as she made contact. She then hastily threw the blanket over top of her shivering form, and tucked it just under her chin, getting cozy in Beast Boy's bed. His sheets smelled clean with lemon zest laundry detergent, and she deduced that he must have freshly washed everything at some point before she'd come by. Raven couldn't help but color as she marveled at everything Beast Boy had done for her.

Had he really gone to all this effort just for _her_ sake?

It was almost hard to believe. No one ever did things like this for her, no one ever went out of their way like he did.

The only time anyone had bothered to care, she'd been used as a means to an end, and she was forced to learn a valuable lesson. Malchior had broken her heart and scattered the sharp shards along the floor for her to pick up. All of it had been a lie, and even now, she hated the way the unshed tears stung her eyes, even if they were more for her hurt pride than anything else.

So then, the question remained; _why_? Why would Beast Boy do all this? Did he want something from her, too? No, there was nothing she had that he could possibly want, as they were often described as polar opposites in hobbies and the like.

When she dared to peek at the object of her anguished thoughts, she found him curled up beneath a thick, canvas-like blanket on the beanbag, his forgotten uniform tossed on the floor beside him as he stared into the small screen of a tablet cradled in his hands. The light both illuminated and cast shadows on his boyish features, but his eyes were slowly closing with every blink, the white earbuds' wire tangling about his naked shoulder. Raven hid beneath her blanket as her cheeks flushed when she realized that, at some point, Beast Boy had gotten naked.

He was sleeping in the _nude_.

While she was in his room.

If Robin and Starfire were to ever find them like that, the suspicion and questions would never, ever cease. Not to mention, the humiliation.

Still, she could hardly say that she was surprised; it was Beast Boy, after all. He took on plenty of his animal counterparts' traits, and being naked was as natural to him as shifting form. Animals didn't wear clothes, unless humans subjected them to it, of course. Raven had a feeling that Beast Boy probably didn't really agree with that sentiment, no matter how cute it made someone's dog look.

It was also no secret that he went skinny dipping in the Tower's pool whenever no one else was around. Cyborg had stolen his abandoned swim shorts once and made Beast Boy chase him around in the form of a cheetah until he'd angrily snatched them back between his teeth, disappearing into his room while still in the form of the speedy, four-legged creature.

Raven pushed the drone of thoughts out of her head, and shut her eyes, trying to think of things that didn't involve a green skinned, naked teenage boy.

Although there certainly weren't any sounds filtering through the walls this time, Raven could still catch hints of emotions from Robin and Starfire, like wafting kindling that could still smoke up a room. Beast Boy's attempt at blocking them out by covering even the bottom opening of his door had somewhat helped, and the effects were significantly less catastrophic than when Raven would be in her own room. However, what she found that benefited her the most, was Beast Boy _himself_.

Being in a room near another individual helped Raven focus her empathic abilities on his more innocent emotions, even though Robin and Starfire were slowly flooding her with theirs. Beast Boy was like a line of hope in an ever violent, stormy sea; so long as she held on, she'd find her way to safety.

It certainly wasn't foolproof, but Raven could, in the least, manage to sleep with that.

With the gentle ebb and flow of his emotional spectrum, Raven was finally able to lull herself into a soothing, dreamless sleep for the night…

* * *

Just as predicted, Raven was awake before anyone else. Once upon a time, Robin had also been an early riser, often beating her to the punch. Raven never minded her leader's company, however; they were perfectly comfortable together in silence. He'd either train, make breakfast, or watch some TV while Raven meditated or read and drank her tea. They wouldn't share more than a brief good morning and a small, warm smile before continuing with their early riser rituals.

However, on the nights Robin spent with Starfire, the boy wonder had developed a bad habit of sleeping in. Raven had shuddered and tried not to think about the plethora of reasons why that could be.

Instead, as the empath sat up in a bed that was not her own, and rubbed the sleep from her tired eyes, she gradually realized that it was not her room she was in. For one thing, in her own bed, the sun never woke her since she was on the opposite side of the tower. This time, it had crept along her body, and warmed her face with a gentle caress until she felt like she was cooking beneath her thick blanket. Beast Boy liked his curtains drawn, as she learned that morning, and thus, half of Raven's body was left exposed due to the warmth beneath her comforter. Only wearing a pair of small shorts and a spaghetti strapped tank top, she became increasingly self conscious about her body, and jolted awake, hoping that by some miracle, Beast Boy was still fast asleep.

As she glanced over to where more sunlight filtered through, she spotted a familiar mop of soft green hair, along with an outstretched, green, bare arm and leg poking out from beneath the brown covers. The way the light of the sun caught wisps of the waves of Beast Boy's hair, turned them almost a golden green, as if it had lovingly bleached the strands with its gentle rays. For a glimmer of a moment, Raven could almost visualize what he would have looked like as normal boy, with hair as golden and wavy as a field of wheat.

Beast Boy stirred, and Raven was pulled back to reality in a panic, realizing what she had to do before anyone else noticed that she'd spent the night in Garfield's room. More importantly, in his _bed_.

No matter how she worded it, the explanation would sound wrong, despite how innocent the circumstances truly were.

So, Raven threw off her covers, hopped out of the bed, grabbed her blanket and pillow in haste, and tried to quietly sneak out of Beast Boy's room without waking him.

As she levitated past his sleeping form on the uncomfortable beanbag chair, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.

There he was, literally doing everything he could just to help her out, even offering his bed in exchange for her comfort, while he slept awkwardly and cramped beneath what looked like an itchy, cold rag. She noticed that Beast Boy had fallen asleep with his headphones still in his ears, the tablet laying on the floor where he must have knocked it down in his sleep unconsciously.

Raven paused by the door, watching him, unable to tear her gaze away even when she knew she ought to have left and gotten started on her morning practices and meditation. What if this was a morning that Robin decided to be up and about? Their leader, after all, was raised by Gotham's best detective; he'd certainly become suspicious if Raven lingered any longer.

But she was paralyzed with remorse, knowing when she'd been a horrible friend to the few friends she _did_ have.

Beast Boy had a grimace on his face as he struggled to get comfortable on the small beanbag to no avail. It was simply not meant for sleeping, and it was all the empath needed to solidify her resolve. She let go of the door handle, and pouted.

With a deep, wary sigh, Raven padded on over to him despite her better judgement telling her to do otherwise. She could at least help him remove the earbuds so that the wire didn't end up strangling him in his sleep, and maybe then she'd feel a bit better about the whole ordeal. She dropped to her knees next to him on his carpeted floor, and leaned over to reach for the wires.

As she pulled them out of his ears gently enough to not wake him, she also adjusted his blanket with her powers so that he wouldn't succumb to any indecent exposure while she was still in the room. Raven was very much aware of his red and white uniform laying next to her on the floor, and she gulped, trying not to think about exactly how _naked_ he was under the covers.

Beast Boy then suddenly moved, turning abruptly on his other side so that he was facing her directly, and very nearly scaring her soul self right out of her body.

Raven seemed to momentarily forget how to breathe; the wire was still in her hand, but Garfield's face was mere inches away from hers. A gentle, summer breeze blew through the open window, ruffling his curtains, the only other sound in the otherwise quiet, sleeping tower.

She stayed that way, almost like time itself had stopped for her. Not because of the earbuds still in her grasp, or because she was too afraid of making a sudden move.

Raven idled because she couldn't _do_ anything else.

Seconds moved forward agonizingly slow. Time had never been tangible, but it was rarely ever this irrelevant.

It was almost staggering, how she sat there on her knees, practically swaying back and forth as the gentle sunlight made the sight hazy and almost magical.

Beast Boy had _never_ looked this way.

Raven was used to the rambunctious, loud mouthed, bad joke telling, cocky, green skinned shapeshifter that had very well made his home among the Titans.

She was even used to the softer, kind hearted side of him that always strived to make others happy in lieu of himself. She'd seen him cheerful, sad, heartbroken, excited, embarrassed, and anything else a human being was capable of expressing.

 _This_ variation of Beast Boy, however, was dozing softly in the lazy, pink and yellow rays of dawn, his features peaceful and at ease. This Beast Boy had hair that looked as soft as silk, and a thick fringe of long lashes that could almost tickle his cheeks. This Beast Boy had the faintest dusting of freckles on his nose and cheekbones, a symbol that the sun loved all it's children, no matter what they looked like.

It wasn't like he'd changed overnight because surely, he'd been the same changeling Raven had always known. Even in the form of candied brandy, Raven still never had the taste for liquor, no matter how sweet or alluring. However, she could suddenly make sense of the appeal the more she gazed at the boy she'd known forever, and yet, only just truly seen.

Raven couldn't explain exactly how it had happened.

Maybe Robin and Starfire were to blame, what with their infectious hormones and incessant lovemaking driving her empathic powers into a frenzy.

Maybe she'd just made it all up in her head, because she certainly had a hard time believing that it had been anything more than just an unusual dream.

Heck, she'd have sooner liked to think that she'd been possessed or hexed into it rather than admit to the alternative; that she had moved out of her own volition.

Azar help her, she didn't know what could have come over her in that moment to make her _do_ such an inappropriate thing.

All she knew was that, at some point, between her unblinking stare as she remained asphyxiated by his unnatural and unseemly beauty, and leaving his room in a trepid hurry, Raven's lips had captured his.

As if her body had had a will of its own, Raven found herself enthralled with the shape of his mouth, of the slight part where his breath escaped with every exhale, and the full curve of his bottom lip. One second, she had been merely admiring him, and the next, his soft, warm lips pressed against hers as she inhaled his scent and briefly tasted his mouth. It had been chaste, and not lasting longer than a heartbeat; the gentlest of touches when she brushed her mouth against his, like the first stroke of a paintbrush on a fresh canvas. It had been not too different than a butterfly's ticklish landing, and she'd been so cautious that Beast Boy didn't even shift in his sleep.

By the time she'd realized what she'd done and the implications behind it, Raven's eyes fluttered open in slow dawning shock, and she pulled back with a sharp gasp, her heart hammering in her chest. Beast Boy lay there, his naked arm coming out from under the blanket to hang over the edge of the beanbag, the lean but strong muscles of his shoulder flexing as he stretched it out, none the wiser to the kiss he'd shared.

Raven brought her fingers accusingly to her mouth, as if to be in perpetual awe. She remained unable to move, fearing that he'd wake any minute and call her out on what she'd done, in typical Beast Boy fashion.

Sweet, merciful Azar, what would he think of her? What would he _say_? How would she ever be able to face him, or her friends, ever again, knowing what they knew? Raven's mind raced with dreadful thoughts and misplaced fear, as all the possible scenarios that played out in her head were of negative connotation.

 _What had she done?_

Only, Beast Boy was still fast asleep, snoring lightly even as he stretched out his body languidly like a cat, and then proceeded to stuff his face into the beanbag material, his cheek squishing against it. As she waited anxiously, the other Titan remained trapped in his dreams, and she finally let go of the breath she'd been holding.

Raven crawled backwards on her hands and feet, dragging her bum along his carpeted floor until her back hit the door. She desperately tried to calm her beating heart as it drummed mercilessly in her ears, her wild eyes never leaving Beast Boy's unconscious form. She dropped the headphones still in her hand, grabbed her pillow and blanket where she'd left them by his door, and scuttled out of his room as fast as she could go, not daring to look back…

* * *

 **A/N:** _So much for a two-shot. I have no idea how this happened, but this story got out of hand. So, now it's multi-chaptered. I'm sorry. It won't be anymore than ten chapters, I don't think. If I can, maybe less. Anyways, feedback is appreciated, as always. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Part 3

**A/N:** _Thank you everyone, for the overwhelming amount of positive feedback. You guys are fantastic!_

* * *

 **Black Honey**

 **Part 3**

* * *

Despite the events that had occurred earlier that morning, the rest of the day at Titan Tower trudged on as it normally would have.

Raven had already started in on her preparation of her ritual morning tea by the time a certain sleep deprived Titan dragged his tired feet into the kitchen. She turned to appraise the exhausted boy wonder with a single raised brow. Robin had dark circles under his eyes, and his normally carefully spiked up hair was in a frazzled mess of jet black strands, sticking up at odd angles. He stretched and yawned loudly before padding on bare feet towards the sink, where he poured himself a glass of water.

"G'mornin', Raven," he slurred, evidently drowsy.

The top several buttons of his pajama shirt were opened to reveal his tanned, toned chest, and it took Raven a few moments before she noticed that they'd been torn off completely.

"Uh, good morning, Robin," the empath replied, eyes wide as she briefly pondered what it might have been like to be in love with a Tamaranean warrior princess.

Robin left the tap running, and Raven saw him sway before catching himself and snapping wide awake again. "What'd I miss?" He cried out suddenly, the water overflowing in the glass and soaking the sleeve of his shirt.

Raven finished steeping her tea before sighing softly. "You should probably get some more sleep, Robin," she instructed calmly.

He shook his head, finally turning off the tap and wiping his hands on a towel. "No can do. We've got training to cover, not to mention a new lead on Brother Blood. Sleep won't help stop crime," he explained. Raven couldn't tell who he was trying to convince more; her, or himself.

She blew a little at the steam that wafted up from her obsidian coloured mug before taking a tentative sip. "Neither will tired leaders," she then commented.

Robin's expression soured before he went on the defensive. "I'm _not_ tired. I just need a coffee, and I'll be fine."

Raven couldn't help but smirk. "Whatever you say, lover boy."

She could hear him sputtering behind her as she walked out of the kitchen, leaving him behind. Even though the entire team was fully aware of the nature of Robin and Starfire's relationship, it was rare that any of them verbally acknowledged it. In lieu of this, it was always amusing to see the distraught reaction from Robin when it was, on the rare occasion, brought up.

Of course, Raven had known of Robin's deep and somewhat embarrassing love for Starfire when she'd taken a sudden trip into his mind a few years back. Out of respect for their leader, she'd kept her mouth shut and decided to allow things to take their natural course. However, it was probably important to note that, back then, it had seemed that even Batman's protégé hadn't understood the nature of his true feelings for the alien beauty.

Raven couldn't help but feel smug about herself, while Robin did his best to avoid the empath for the rest of the morning.

Starfire had been the next one to wake up, followed shortly by Cyborg. She had come out of the bedroom appearing just as ravaged as Robin had, obviously wearing one of his oversized t-shirts and very little else. The white, crew neck shirt may have been baggy on Robin, but on Starfire's tall frame, it sat like it would a regular shirt, if only a bit loose. It was also plain as day that she'd forgone a bra and a pair of pants. Instead, she strutted into the common room with a long yawn, her rainbow striped underwear peeking from beneath the hem of her top, and her luscious red hair a tangled, flaming mess.

"Good morning, friend Raven! I hope your night of rest was a pleasant one," she chirped happily when she walked past the empath.

Raven fought the urge to roll her eyes; if only she knew the truth.

"It was all right, I guess," Raven replied, burying her face into the pages of her book.

Starfire giggled girlishly. "My night was wondrous!" She did a brief twirl in the air, floating towards the kitchen with a blissful smile on her lips, her iridescent green eyes alight with joy.

The emotion was practically choking Raven.

"That's, uh…that's great, Starfire," Raven coughed.

The alien princess then disappeared into the kitchen, humming a happy tune as she went. While she could be heard busily making her traditional Tamaranean breakfast of ingredients no one else in the tower would touch, Cyborg had also emerged.

Upon noticing his teammate huddled on the couch, he immediately graced her with an all-knowing smile, and teased; "Mornin', Rae! How'd you sleep?"

He raised his brows suggestively, to which Raven scowled and sunk deeper into the couch, trying desperately not to recall a certain embarrassing memory involving a certain shapeshifter and his lips.

"Fine," she snarled sharply through gritted teeth.

Cyborg's mischievous grin only widened as he leaned in and almost whispered, "Should I check on Beast Boy, just to make sure he's still in one piece?"

Thankfully, all the clattering around in the kitchen, coupled with Starfire's eerily cheery tune, had probably made the alien princess deaf to the conversation between Raven and Cyborg. Meanwhile, Raven came to terms with what Victor was hinting at.

He knew.

The oldest Titan _always_ knew things that happened in the Tower. Although he'd been present when they'd made the agreement, both Beast Boy and Raven had neglected to tell the older Titan exactly _when_ the first night would be, and it often resulted in him pestering them for details almost every other morning.

Nonetheless, Raven continued to play the dumb card. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she insisted, her eyes never leaving the pages of her book.

"Joke's on you, Raven. I popped by Beastie's room already, and let me say that I find it quite interesting he was sleeping outside of a bed that was clearly slept on by _someone_." Cyborg winked, completely confident in figuring out the usually elusive Titan.

The dark-haired girl, knowing when she'd lost, then fixed her glare onto the robot, human hybrid, enunciating her words very carefully. " _Drop it_ , Cyborg."

He shrugged off her threat like he'd shrug off any of Gizmo's childish jabs. "All I'm sayin' is he's usually up and at it right about now, so I'm a bit concerned about my friend, Rae," he told her, trying to sound diplomatic about the whole thing.

Raven scoffed in annoyance before choosing to ignore the other Titan, and going back to her book.

"Who's concerned?"

A new voice entered the fray and Raven couldn't help the way her heart felt like it had dropped into the pit of her stomach. She was overcome with a sudden, cold sweat, while the words on the page before her eyes blurred in a hazy mess of jumbled text.

"Well, look who it is!" Cyborg exclaimed.

Beast Boy responded with a tired yawn, still held in the thralls of sleep to really understand his best friend's enthusiasm.

"What's going on, Cy?" He queried innocently.

Meanwhile, Raven still refused to acknowledge him, not trusting her suddenly fragile emotions.

She'd pushed the events from that morning to the very back of her head, going along with her day as anyone would have expected. Everything had felt so commonplace, that she'd practically forgotten it had even happened; like some distant memory or foggy, dream fragment. She'd convinced herself that she'd be okay, that interaction with Beast Boy would go as normal as it always did because, after all, it wasn't like she'd _kissed_ him or anything.

Except, now that he was looming nearby and the situation was very much a reality, Raven found herself struggling to keep the vivid kiss from the forefront of her thoughts. Her trembling fingertips came up to her parted lips, tentatively touching them as if they weren't her own.

"Oh, nothing much. Just asking Rae here how she slept last night. Speaking of which, how was your night, B?" Cyborg's voice trilled on in the background, vaguely tying Raven to the real world.

Beast Boy ran his fingers though his thick crop of messy, green hair. He stretched out his back with a brief grimace crossing his comely features. "It was fine," he replied simply, choosing not to elaborate on his obvious discomfort.

"Oh, yeah? Cause Raven here said your snoring kept her up all night," Cyborg baited the changeling.

Raven groaned and smacked her palm against her forehead as Beast Boy fell for it; hook, line and sinker.

"What?! I didn't snore! I _never_ snore! Raven, please tell Tin Can over here that I _do not_ snore!" Beast Boy protested, perking up instantly at the accusation, and not realizing what Cyborg had deceitfully accomplished.

As the oldest Titan snickered to himself in amusement, and Raven shook her head in aggravation, the full extent of what he'd done slowly dawned on Beast Boy.

Sputtering, he abysmally attempted to correct the situation. "I mean, uh, that's not possible because, uh, that would mean that Raven slept in my room, but, uh, she didn't so, she wouldn't know if I snore, which I don't."

He flailed his arms about hopelessly, all the while fighting an uphill battle. "He _knows_ , Beast Boy," Raven informed him once she was unable to take any more of his embarrassing shenanigans coupled with Cyborg's grating laughter.

This caused the changeling to freeze, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he whispered a small _'oh'_ of understanding.

"Sorry, Rae," he added apologetically, gracing her with a sincere, sympathetic smile.

She caught herself openly staring at him; in particular, at his mouth, and swiftly ducked her head back below the couch, her heartbeat ringing in her ears.

Thankfully, Beast Boy hardly seemed to notice her odd behaviour, most likely mistaking it for her annoyance with him instead.

"Friends! I have made us a feast for the breaking of the fast! Will you be joining me?" Starfire came floating out of the kitchen, taking everyone by surprise and granting Raven a brief reprieve from her own brand of torture.

Both Cyborg and Beast Boy seemed somewhat stunned by her lewder appearance, although it was safe to say that all the Titans had, at some point, witnessed the naked glory of Starfire. Sometimes, Raven envied her level of confidence and comfort. It was always inspiring to witness a female so relaxed in her own skin, and with skin like Starfire's, who could blame her?

"Uh…she knows she's in her underwear, right?" Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg with a nervous chuckle.

Victor nodded curtly. "I'd go with a yes."

Beast Boy then cleared his throat and addressed the Tamaranean royalty. "Ahem, it depends; is tofu eggs and bacon on the menu, Star?"

She glided towards the changeling then in a flash of green stardust. "Yes! Of course! I respect all my friends and their wishes! I even made the real eggs and bacon for friend Cyborg!" She nodded vigorously.

"I will go and receive boyfriend Robin so that he may join us as well!"

With that, she was gone, leaving her teammates to process what had occurred.

Beast Boy was the first to crack a warm smile. "It's nice seeing her this happy," he noted.

Cyborg gave him an incredulous look. "Uh, this is Starfire we're talking about; she's almost _always_ happy."

"I know, but I mean, _this_ happy? No one's this happy unless they're in love, dude," Beast Boy explained wistfully.

"Yeah, well, let's just hope Robin doesn't screw it up by putting his foot in his mouth like he usually does," Cyborg commented with a light chuckle.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Please, stop. You guys are going to make me physically ill."

Yet even she couldn't fight off the small smile that tugged at the corners of her lips. Raven was always happy if her friends were happy, no matter how much she would deny that emotion the light of day.

* * *

It eventually happened again.

Raven had gradually found it easier and easier to be around Beast Boy despite what had transpired on that fateful morning, and it helped immensely that the green skinned boy appeared none the wiser to being kissed in his sleep. She'd thought it was behind her at last, and, although she'd done her best to avoid visiting his bedroom at night, eventually her pride lost out to her logic.

She found herself standing outside his door yet again, wearing her sleeping attire and huddling her blanket and pillow to her chest just like she had on the first night.

She was apprehensive again, too, only not for the same reasons.

Starfire and Robin were already going at it, and the more Raven lingered in the hallway, the more she was unwillingly subjected to.

She knocked on his door, quick and hard, using the sound of her knuckles on the metal to drown out her teammate's intoxicating emotions with little success. She practically danced on her two feet anxiously, in a fashion not too different from one with a full bladder.

After what felt like hours, she finally heard the locks slip out of place, and Raven came face to face with Beast Boy.

Unlike before, she'd dropped by at a more reasonable time, and thus, she'd been pleased to note that she hadn't woken him from his slumber. He was still wearing his red and white, skin tight uniform, and his bedroom lights were on. When she peered inside, she noted that his bedspread was unkempt, and there were comic books, headphones, and a portable gaming device left unattended and scattered about.

Without a word, he stepped out of her way to allow her entry, very much aware of what was happening across the hall.

When Raven walked in, she could smell the burning candles before she saw them, the familiar, pleasant scent filling her nostrils almost instantly.

"You know, I almost thought after that first night that maybe you hated the bed or something. You haven't been by in a while, Rae. I was beginning to think I scared you off or did something wrong," Beast Boy admitted sheepishly, closing the door behind them.

Oh, if only he knew how wrong he was.

The guilt ate away at her, gnawing on her insides like a flesh-eating disease.

Beast Boy went ahead to clear off his things from his bed, getting it ready for her to sleep, while Raven was left at the mercy of her own conscience.

"You don't have to go to sleep just yet if you don't want to," she told him in a soft voice.

Raven would have been lying if she denied the fact that this was her attempt at making amends. It wasn't like she could just come clean and tell him the truth.

Beast Boy shook his head. "Nah, it's fine. It's getting pretty late anyways, and our fight with Mumbo Jumbo today totally wore me out."

Once he'd put away his things, he then walked to his closet to pull out the makeshift brown blanket he'd slept beneath last time, shaking out any wrinkles and folds. The mere sight of it was like a painful reminder of what Beast Boy would subject himself to for the sake of her comfort. Needless to say, she wanted to incinerate the blasted thing.

After blowing out the candles, Beast Boy drew open his curtains and moved to turn off the lights.

Raven took the opportunity to settle herself in, placing her own blanket and pillow atop the spacious bed while trying to distract her nerve rattled mind.

Once she'd gotten under the covers, she could make out the faint glow from the tablet as Beast Boy got ready to put in his earbuds and drown the world out.

No one could have said what in Azar possessed her to say what she said next.

Maybe it was all the guilt, or self imposed berating.

The fact that Beast Boy remained so innocent despite all the trials and tribulations that she had put him through, that he remained kind and gentle despite how hard she would push, was making Raven _soft_. The pulverizing waves of emotion made her feel nauseous, overcoming even the changeling's subtler undertones of contentment.

Raven glared angrily at the offensive, white, untouched space next to her, chewing her bottom lip in a sad effort to quell what she could no longer deny.

"You don't have to sleep over there."

Her voice sounded foreign, even to her, and it beckoned a confused response from Beast Boy as he looked over at her snuggled-up form.

"Huh?" He called out, unsure if he had even really heard her speak, or if it had just been a part of his wild imagination.

Raven, still staring at the crisp sheets next to her, repeated herself. "I said, you don't have to sleep over there. This bed is big enough for more than two people, you know."

She could almost hear him blinking in disbelief as an awkward silence befell the room.

Raven shut her eyes tightly, regretting the offer the minute she'd made it. Just as she was about to retract the statement in an angry huff, Beast Boy broke the silence. "But I sleep naked," he blurted out into the darkness of his room.

She could have burst out laughing right then. Not because it was funny, but for the fact that it was his only response to such a strange predicament. He didn't do the sensible thing and deny her offer, nor did he blatantly accept it like a perverted lunatic. Beast Boy didn't even bother to point out the more obvious implications of sharing a bed with Raven. He was merely concerned with his nudity, like it had been some well-kept secret that she hadn't noticed from the night before.

"So, put on some shorts or something," she instructed impatiently, distilling the bubble of laughter that nearly left her throat.

"O-okay," Beast Boy conceded in a strained tone.

She heard him rustling about, and it was a few minutes before his shadow hovered over her from across the bed. Raven opened her eyes and looked up at him. He met her gaze head on, but he appeared nervous and unsure.

"Are you planning on standing there all night and watching me sleep?" She coaxed him, doing her best to keep her eyes focused on his face rather than his exposed, lean torso.

Thank Azar he'd at least found a pair of boxer shorts to wear, even if they did ride low on his slim hips.

"Of course not! I just…I just want to be sure you're okay with this," he said, shaking his head vehemently.

Raven groaned and fought back the urge to roll her eyes. "If I wasn't, I wouldn't have offered. Now, get in." She patted the empty spot next to her.

The mattress shifted with his added weight, as Beast Boy clambered into his own bed. He slipped beneath the thin covers and rested the back of his head on the pillow so that he was left staring up at the ceiling.

"Why?" He asked her gingerly, unable to look at her.

Raven opened a single eye and admired his profile in the shadow of the moonlight.

"Why what?" She gulped, thinking about what reason her heart had to speed up in such a maddening way.

"Why offer?" He clarified, his jade green eyes like dark, glittering gemstones in the night.

Raven coloured before sputtering out a weak response. "Have you ever heard the expression of looking a gift horse in the mouth, Beast Boy?"

He nodded as his strong arms came to rest beneath his head. "That's the one about not questioning a good thing, right?"

"Exactly," Raven concurred, feeling like her point had been made while simultaneously avoiding Beast Boy's question.

"Thanks, Rae," he said with a soft yawn and gentle smile.

"For what?" She couldn't help herself.

"That's what people say when they receive a gift, right?"

Raven blinked a few times. "I didn't get you a gift."

Beast Boy sighed in relaxation. "Sure you did. You even said so yourself."

"That's just the expression, Beast Boy," she tried to argue.

"Raven, please, just let me thank you and go to sleep, okay?" He begged her.

She let him win this round, if only because she, too, didn't quite seem to have the energy for it, either. What she didn't fail to notice was that, once Beast Boy had gotten into his actual bed, he'd forgone the 'noise' he claimed he needed to sleep, the tablet and headphones laying forgotten on his bedside table.

* * *

The night was still young when Raven awoke from a nightmare. She was known to get them every so often, what with her demon lineage and the fate that she had narrowly escaped a few years ago. What she wasn't used to was the tossing and turning in someone else's bed.

When her eyes shot open, she found herself face to face with Beast Boy's peaceful, sleeping expression. Her heartbeat was still a pulsing drum in her ears, and her breaths came in ragged and sharp, her pale skin clammy with sweat. If any of her movement had disturbed the changeling, he didn't show it. That boy could have slept through an earthquake if he wanted to.

Still, it unnerved Raven that she'd somehow closed the vast distance between them so easily. Her mind became so preoccupied with this new turn of events that she could barely remember what the dream had even been about. Surely, something about Trigon coming back, or her brothers revealing themselves and dragging her to another hellish dimension, as was the typical recipe for her worst fears.

Try as she might, she wasn't going to remember what had startled her awake, nor did she really want to. Raven was far too consumed with the fact that she could _feel_ Beast Boy's warm breath on her cheek, and that, no matter how much she willed her body to move away, she was met with direct disobedience.

She watched him dozing softly next to her, far more comfortable than he'd been the night he'd slept on a bean bag chair. There was something serene about his features, handsome even, and yet again, Raven found herself tearing her gaze away with great difficulty.

Although her heart still raced, the steady thrum an echo of what had past, she could no longer fault her terrible nightmare as the cause.

Somehow, Raven had left the safety of her pillow and was resting her head against his, her hand the only thing between them now. Her knees even brushed his own, and she self consciously remained still as a statue, afraid of waking him with any sudden movements. Even her blanket lay forgotten somewhere behind her.

Like the dawn of the sun had cast its warm glow on Beast Boy that fateful morning, the moon and night sky did the same with it's cooler shades and eerie light. His hair was a dark, blue-green smudge against the backdrop of starlight, the silhouette of his defined, naked shoulder and neck, a smooth curve for her eyes to feast upon. The clean white sheets wrapped around his torso, tucking underneath the inside of his bicep, a complete contrast to the verdant shade of his skin. All the while, he slept so easily, the covers only moving to the rise and fall of his chest when he breathed.

She couldn't tell what it was about him that made her heart flutter in her chest, while the proverbial butterflies, with wings as razor sharp as knives, danced in her stomach.

Yet again, Raven found herself in a trance, or under some sort of hypnosis.

She was leaning in, her eyes falling closed the more she breached the tender distance between his mouth and her own. She could almost taste him in the air, his nose barely brushing against her own, before her bottom lip grazed along the top of his, causing her skin to tingle and her nerve endings to fire off in excitement where they made contact.

Beast Boy purred in his sleep. " _Nnnn_ …," he melted into her touch, shifting closer so that her lips were directly on his warm mouth.

Raven's heart felt as if it were about to burst out of her chest, with every fibre of her being telling her that this was _wrong_ , that she should pull away and never indulge like this again.

Azar have mercy on her, she couldn't do it. She couldn't listen to that tiny voice of reason, even if she knew she was going to pay for it dearly.

Be that as it may, she couldn't fight the swell of emotion that burst and nearly choked her. Her hand gripped the material of the pillow as her body writhed, aching with the need to be closer, to _touch_ him. Raven was at war with herself, and her body shuddered as her emotions begged to be unleashed; after all, she'd already come so far.

And then, like a strong stream of ice cold water dousing a raging fire, Beast Boy moaned against her mouth a name that wasn't her own.

" _Mmm_ … _Terra_ …," he whispered breathily, nearly inaudible against her lips, shifting so that the heat from their bodies enveloped them like a bubble.

It was all Raven needed to find the strength to pull away.

The distance grew between them like an angry sea of white as she quickly scampered back to her side of the bed, where her cold pillow and blanket awaited her with unfeeling judgement.

It took her a minute or two, but eventually, Raven grabbed all her belongings and stealthily left Beast Boy's room, too humiliated to last another moment reliving her shame…

* * *

" _Ugh_ …," Raven groaned, slamming her forehead against the dining table.

No amount of meditation, herbal tea, or books, were going to help alleviate the restlessness the young empath was experiencing.

She was exhausted, drained from both a lack of sleep as well as mental exhaustion from stewing over what had happened the previous night. Not to mention, Robin had been merciless in his training session with her today, pushing her to a limit she hardly knew she had.

"You're out of focus, Raven! I need you to keep your head in the game! This is life and death; real villains aren't going to wait for you to wake up!"

She could still hear his voice in her ears, goading her until she gave him the results he'd wanted. Since she relied heavily on the manifestation of her powers, physical training was always the most grueling, especially when she was up against the tip top boy wonder himself. When her emotions were as unstable as they were now, it made everything twice as more challenging.

When Robin had finally allowed her to rest, Raven had skulked back to the common room to rest her head in peace, while the other Titans continued their training. She'd briefly passed out on the table, not realizing she'd been dreaming until her teammates' familiar voices echoed in from the elevator.

Panicking, and still unable to confront Beast Boy after what had transpired the last time she'd been in his room, Raven used a portal to make a quick getaway to another, less visible side of the room.

"What was with you today?" Cyborg probed the changeling as they both meandered into the kitchen.

Beast Boy groaned in response. "I don't know, I guess my head just wasn't in it," he explained glumly.

"I get that, but you rarely give out so easy during that obstacle course. You usually make it a third of the way with no problem. It's the Gatling gun that gives you the most trouble, and, even then, I know you've got it in you to take it out. You've done it before." Cyborg was unable to mask his concern for his friend, his tone taking on the leadership edge he normally reserved for more serious conversations.

Like, Raven noted, this one.

She heard Beast Boy open the fridge, scouring for some tofu, most likely. "I don't know what to tell you, man. If I told you the truth, you'd probably think I was crazy or something."

"I doubt it's any crazier than your boss turning into a psychopathic, alien tofu villain that you singlehandedly destroyed. Stop assuming and just try me, B," Cyborg persisted.

Beast Boy let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, okay. So, maybe I've been having these…uh… _weird_ dreams. I guess you can say they've sort of got me distracted."

Raven's ears perked up at this, a bout of nervousness bubbling up within her despite her best efforts to control the emotion. A lack of meditation and sleep were ingredients to a good recipe for disaster in Raven's books.

"What kind of dreams?"

"Promise you won't laugh, or tell anyone?" Beast Boy hesitated.

"You have my word."

"Let's just say that…there's a girl involved," the changeling said in a shaky voice.

"Oh, boy," Cyborg moaned.

"It's not like that, whatever you're thinking," urged Beast Boy.

A pause.

"So then, what is it? If this ain't some sort of dirty dream, what are you talking about?"

Beast Boy let out a nervous laugh. "Uh…well, I don't know how to say this without it sounding weird…"

"Just spit it out, B."

Finally, Beast Boy blurted out; "She kisses me…"

Another moment of silence while that sank in, and Raven nearly fainted from a lack of oxygen. She felt as if she couldn't breathe, like the wind had been knocked out of her, and her body had completely gone rogue.

"And?" Cyborg pressed, clearly unsatisfied with this information.

"At first, I dreamt of…Terra. Which is sort of normal because I've dreamt about kissing her before," Beast Boy explained, the pain obvious in his voice no matter how much he tried to hide it.

Just like that, the guilt returned in full force, and Raven was reminded as to why she had to make such a hasty getaway the other night to begin with.

It hadn't been about the name, or that it wasn't her he'd thought of. Naturally, it made perfect sense that Beast Boy associated any romantic feelings and actions with the first and only person he'd fallen in love with.

What sent Raven fleeing was the horrible feeling of what she'd _done_.

She knew all too well how much reopening that wound hurt the changeling, that it was a sensitive sore which would never properly heal over, and yet she'd somehow gone and made it _worse_. She'd picked at the scab and drudged up old feelings that had nearly emotionally crippled Beast Boy when it had first happened. It had taken the Titans _months_ to help get him back to some semblance of normal, and Raven, by doing what she did, had very nearly undone their hard work, all for a selfish, meaningless endeavour she could barely understand.

Cyborg remained quiet, respecting the shapeshifter enough to let him continue on his own terms. No one ever took it lightly when Terra's name was brought up, whether it was for Beast Boy's sake or their own pain and guilt, it was always a toss up.

"But…I've kissed Terra, and I know what she smells like, what she _tastes_ like…This girl, she's different. I can't place it, because it's all just some stupid dream, but I swear, sometimes it feels so _real_. It's frustrating me so much, it's throwing me off completely. Even my sense of smell is wonky…," Beast Boy revealed, wiping at the tip of his nose as if it would, by some miracle, help fix the problem.

"…I see. How frequently you been dreaming about this… _girl_?" Cyborg finally asked, once he'd been certain that Beast Boy had nothing else to say.

The changeling shrugged. "I don't know, three, four times? I've lost count."

"Maybe it's just Robin and Starfire gettin' to you," Cyborg attempted to reassure his friend. "I won't lie; I'm a bit jealous myself..."

"Maybe," Beast Boy postulated. "Either way, as nice as it is, I kind of wish it would stop. If I don't get myself back together, Robin's training sessions are only going to get harder. I've already been putting in extra hours at the gym. Failing the obstacle course is no Bueno. Someone as lame as Control Freak could take me out in the sorry state _I'm_ in."

As Raven heard their footsteps receding back towards the common room, she opened a portal and disappeared into the confines of her room, allowing Beast Boy's words to firmly sink in.

He was right; she had to put a stop to her guilt-ridden, night time activity, no matter what it cost her. After all he had done for her, she owed him _that_ much...

* * *

 **A/N:** _We're probably at the half point here, so, I'm hoping to have this done sooner than later. I'm focusing on it for now simply because it was supposed to be a one-shot and I have all the ideas planned in my head. I'm basically itching to write them. Apologies for the delays this has caused for my other work but, I assure you, I'll have them coming along. The constructive feedback received previously was duly noted and appreciated, as well as taken into consideration. The last chapter wasn't my favourite, but I hope I managed to fix things with this one here. Thanks for reading!_


	4. Part 4

**A/N:** _Once again, thank you to everyone who has supported this. Whether it's leaving me reviews, following, favouriting, messaging me personally, here or tumblr. It's all been so overwhelmingly positive and I'm so floored by you guys. Thank you._

* * *

 **Black Honey**

 **Part 4**

* * *

Things were starting to get out of hand.

Raven had given up on Beast Boy's offer altogether, and her lack of sleep as a repercussion had started affecting her in battle.

Not only was she unable to meditate, but Robin and Starfire's incessant lovemaking was causing her emotions to go out of whack. More often than not, she'd underestimate her strength, and send things flying into her teammates instead of the villains. It had nearly cost them the fight on numerous occasions and, when angrily confronted by their leader, she often looked away, embarrassed from beneath her hood before silently disappearing into a portal that directly led into her bedroom.

She could hardly use her powers to even levitate anymore, she was so terrified that she'd cause more damage if she even tried.

Raven stayed in her room to meditate during the times that Robin and Starfire were elsewhere, but no matter what, it just wasn't enough. Sleep deprivation coupled with rampaging, unsatisfied hormones, was apparently a highly potent and detrimental combination. Her magic was super charged and on the fritz almost all the time, and if she dared to summon it for even the tiniest of tasks, she would cause the entire building's lights to flicker and potentially go out, much to Cyborg's displeasure. Not to mention, the one time she'd accidentally smashed her window; the spider like cracks had grown fast along the clear glass by the time she'd realized what she'd done, and she was far too chastised to tell Victor about it.

Oftentimes, after yet another incident, Robin would come knocking on her door, concern colouring his tone when he'd beckon the question on everyone's mind; "Raven, is there anything you need to talk about?"

She'd panic, mortified at the mere prospect of opening _that_ can of worms. "I'm fine, I just need to meditate," she'd lie from inside her dark, lonely room.

"Alright, well, if you decide that you do, you know where to find me," he'd tell her after a drawn-out, defeated sigh.

Once she'd hear his footsteps receding, she'd let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding and repeat her calming mantra to herself over and over again.

 _Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos._

Robin had never been the pushy type of leader where it concerned her; he always assumed that she'd go to him whenever she felt comfortable enough to do so, and that forcing anything out of her would only cause Raven to recoil further away. He provided her with the necessary space, and she provided him with the trust of opening up to him when ready. That was the level of unspoken respect the two held for one another.

Both Starfire and Cyborg had no doubt conveyed their concerns for their friend to Robin, who had, quite sternly, told them that _he_ would be the one to investigate. After all, he had known how much she hated it when they all came pestering her about sensitive, personal issues. They must have all resolutely accepted their leader's instruction, for she'd been pleasantly surprised at the lack of visitations from her other teammates. Raven assumed that their hesitancy had probably stemmed from her complete shut out of even the boy wonder himself.

All of them, that is, but Beast Boy.

Truth be told, Raven found it somewhat curious that the changeling hadn't mentioned a word to her about the sudden lack of sleepovers, as he had no doubt taken notice of her absence.

If anything, he'd maintained his distance on the subject and, like both Starfire and Cyborg, settled for worrying from afar.

Until, of course, his curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself standing uncertainly outside of the empath's quarters with sweaty palms and an uneasy stomach.

Raven had opened her door a crack after he'd knocked, a single, violet-toned eye peering out and studying the green shapeshifter with mild disinterest.

He grinned nervously. "Hey Rae, I, uh, I was just wondering if we could, uhm, talk?"

"About what?" She mouthed back, her expression remaining placid and unfeeling.

Beast Boy fidgeted uneasily on the spot, clasping his hands behind his back because he didn't seem to know what else to do with them. "Well, it's been a while since you…since we… _you know_ , and I'm kind of thinking it's getting to you like it gets to me," he confessed sheepishly, averting his emerald gaze from the empath's inquisitive stare while tripping over his own tongue.

Before he could say any more, she yanked him inside of her room by the collar of his shirt, causing him to bellow out a quick cry of surprise as he stumbled forward into the darkness. Once Raven had ensured that no one had been about to overhear him, she frantically shut her door and turned to fix her angry glare upon the unsuspecting Titan.

" _What do you think you're doing_?!" She seethed, her shadow appearing to grow with her temper.

Beast Boy backed up defensively, knocking into the frame of her bed. "Nothing! I was just…I just noticed that it's really getting to you, and I thought that maybe, this time, I really did say or do something to make you uncomfortable. I only want to help, Raven. So, tell me what it is and I'll try and fix it, I promise."

She stilled, a serene look crossing her features as the anger and annoyance dissipated. It was unfair, how easily he could disarm her with kindness, even when she didn't deserve it. Even when she thought the worst of him.

Sighing, she answered him dejectedly, to at least help ease his concerns. "You didn't do anything wrong, Beast Boy…"

Raven's fingers intertwined with one another as she shifted her purple gaze to the floor. "I'm just having a hard time… _adjusting_ ," she lied.

It was all she could do not to acknowledge the _real_ reason she'd opted to stop sleeping in his room. Every time her glance fell to his lips, she'd blush crimson at the memory, a small voice in her head taunting her with the knowledge of what he tasted like and how much she'd enjoyed his honeyed flavour.

"Well, this seems like a pretty bad alternative," Beast Boy said, stepping forward and doing something completely out of line.

He lifted her chin with his fingers so that she had to meet his verdant gaze, standing so close that he was very well invading her personal bubble. She could feel his body heat emanating against her, the electricity from his fingertips where he brushed her skin.

Then, in a somewhat husky whisper, he assessed, "You haven't been sleeping enough, and it's clearly affecting you. I had my head almost taken off by a truck you lost control of, Rae. You can't go on like this, so you're going to need to _adjust_."

Unlike her, he hardly seemed fazed by the intimate gesture, as if it were completely normal for him to waltz right up to her and _touch_ her so flippantly. Meanwhile, Raven found herself admiring his features even when he was awake, enthralled with the way the absence of light cast darkness to his inky, pine green eyes, and the gentle sweep of his bangs against his dark brows. There was so much of him to take in when he was standing so close that Raven couldn't remember how to breathe.

From the slope of his nose, to the curve of his mouth, and the dip of his upper lip. She was lost among the landscape and planes of his features, like she was looking at him for the first time all over again.

There was an unforeseen beauty about the way he came naturally packaged, like a fine bottle of dark chocolate, red wine; bitter and sweet and appealing, all at the same time.

How hadn't she noticed it before?

Had he always had a trace of dimples? Were his cheekbones always so prominent? When had his jaw set in? Surely, lashes didn't grow overnight, yet she couldn't recall when he'd gotten such a thick fringe of them.

As a pulsing heat rushed to Raven's neck and ears, there was no denying it anymore; she was attracted to _Beast Boy_.

Finally noticing his blunder, Garfield let go and backed away, appearing bashful. "Sorry," he apologized meekly, "It's just, I can see it in your eyes, how tired you are. I didn't mean to… _sorry_ ," he rambled on, averting his gaze to the carpeted floor.

Raven's heart raced within her chest, the passing moment leaving behind faint traces of exhilaration. She was almost surprised to find her room still in one piece after the immense revelation she had just had.

"Anyways, Robin asked me for some condoms tonight, so, you might want to consider my room again. I'll wait up for you," he added, scratching absent-mindedly at his ear.

Raven tried not to blanch at this new piece of information, forcing herself not to think about why a single, hormonal, teenage boy would stash away a box of condoms in his room in the first place.

She couldn't decide what news was more unsettling; the fact that Robin and Starfire couldn't keep it in their pants for more than one night, or what Beast Boy had just freely admitted to her.

Before Raven could think of a clever enough comeback to rebut him with, or a way out of spending the night with Beast Boy, the changeling had already taken his leave of her room, closing her door behind him and abandoning her to her addled mind.

Raven belly flopped onto her bed with a brief bounce on the mattress, her face burying into her comforter as she let out a loud, long, muffled groan of exasperation.

* * *

She wasn't going to kiss him this time.

It was true that she was in desperate need of a good night's sleep, and seeing as how Robin and Starfire were trying to break records that night, Beast Boy's bed was her one and only salvation. So what if she had reconciled with the notion that she found him nice to look at every now and again? Robin and Cyborg were admittedly handsome; that didn't mean she had to go kissing _them_ while they slept. Surely, Raven had enough willpower to know when to do the right thing in such a delicate situation.

How hard was it to maintain enough control to not kiss the unsuspecting changeling in his slumber? Raven would lay on the very edge of her side of the bed, close her eyes, and tune the world out, then leave at the break of dawn without sparing a single look back at the object of her deepest, darkest desires.

"You still cool with sharing the bed?" Beast Boy asked her apprehensively when she'd crawled beneath the covers as he turned out the lights.

"Yes, it's fine. Just stick to your side, wear some shorts, and we won't have any problems," she replied, turning on her side so that she would face the wall instead of having to stare at his pleasant profile.

She felt him climb into bed then, the mattress and blankets shifting as he settled in.

"Good night, Raven," he said softly into the quiet of night.

"Good night, Beast Boy."

And she slept happily ever after.

Except, of course, Raven never got a 'happily ever after', nor did she believe in them. Sure, she loved a good story every now and then with a sappy ending just like most folks, but in terms of real life? She knew better.

That was why she'd opened her eyes with a start when she felt something warm press against her back. Beast Boy's arm had snaked around her waist as he snuggled into her neck, purring contentedly against her ear. Only their separate blankets kept their skin from touching when his legs attempted to intertwine with hers. He held her close and nuzzled her hair, taking in a deep whiff of her scent, and sending her heart into a maddened frenzy.

Raven was frozen, unable to move or fight, held incapacitated by his closeness, his body heat, and the feeling of being held in his arms. Heat rushed to her face as her pulse bounded in a thrilling fervor, despite her constant denial of her feelings.

" _Raven_ …," he murmured into her ear, his hot mouth brushing against her earlobe.

She shuddered under his touch, her body betraying her as she fell into him, wiggling closer and eliciting a low moan from the changeling's throat. She couldn't help herself; couldn't stop no matter how much she willed it, almost as if she had no control over her own body anymore. The voice of reason in her head was drowned out by the red, angry fury of lust and wanting, fading into the background as she turned to acknowledge how close his face was to hers. Her cold, pale fingers came up to cup his chin as their noses brushed. Beast Boy seemed to think he was dreaming and, before she could think to stop herself, her lips met his in a soft embrace, all sense of logic lost in the chaotic sea of selfish emotion.

Raven had done it again; she'd succumbed to her weakness despite her adamant willpower that she'd once thought was indestructible. She knew she was going to regret it later, that she'd wake up in the morning hating herself, but at least, this time, it was _her_ name that he'd uttered. This time, he'd been thinking of her, dreaming of her.

Perhaps that was why, this time, he'd kissed her _back_.

She never saw it coming, the way his warm mouth captured her lips. She could have gasped aloud, only, when she opened her mouth, his slick tongue found hers, and he deepened the hungry kiss.

Raven, with a sense of dreadful urgency, realized that Beast Boy was, in fact, not asleep at all. Her eyes shot open in a panic, and she found him staring back at her in the darkness, her heart caught in her throat.

"Did you really think I wouldn't figure out it was you?" He goaded her after she'd tried to scramble away.

His glowing eyes, coloured with flecks of amber gold, followed her, unblinking. His voice was laced with a husky, lust-filled, otherworldly pitch; a gruff whisper in the dead of night. The way he watched her was not too different from the way a predator may have regarded their prey before they pounced.

" _How_ …?" she whispered shakily, her trembling fingers brushing over her raw, parted lips.

Beast Boy grinned, his white teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "The way you smell, the way you _taste_. Like mint and honey, both bitter and sweet." The shapeshifter wet his lips in anticipation, as if to be tasting remnants of her delectable flavour.

He moved over to her then, on all fours, like a predatory jungle cat, the lithe muscles of his back and shoulders working gingerly beneath taut, green skin in the darkness of his room.

Raven didn't budge, she didn't fight it, not even when her own heartbeat echoed loudly in her ears while blood rushed to her face and neck in dizzying heatwaves. When he hovered directly over top of her, his hands digging into the fabric of the mattress next to her shoulders, Raven squeezed her eyes in anticipation. She couldn't handle looking at him, too mortified to witness the knowledge in his eyes.

She'd have also been lying if she had told herself that it wasn't a relief he _knew,_ that she wasn't glad he was finally doing _something_ about it. The reality was that Raven wanted him to kiss her again, craved for him to kiss her again. It had felt far more satisfying, exhilarating and euphoric when his sweet lips would work against hers rather than not at all.

"I still can't believe it's _you,_ that you're the girl in my dreams," he cooed, leaning in so that the wisps of his hair tickled her nose.

Raven's chest heaved forward as she arched her back in reaction to his taunt, wanting so desperately to bridge the gap between their bodies.

How could she have become this way? How could she allow herself to turn into nothing more than a whimpering bundle of hormones and teenage emotions when she was otherwise so calm and collected? Had Robin and Starfire's burning hot romance rubbed off on her in ways worse than she'd initially thought?

She gasped sharply when she felt Beast Boy's mouth on her neck, his fangs lightly grazing the sensitive skin over her bounding pulse.

By Azar, she wanted this, wanted _him_ , and it was all-consuming. Her fingers tangled in his soft, thick hair, clutching at it as he worked his lips hungrily up her neck and over her jaw.

" _Beast Boy_ …," she moaned his name into the night, in a throaty voice she couldn't recognize as her own.

All the while, he continued to leave a wet trail of honeyed kisses along a path to her ear.

When Raven's fingers closed tighter about his scalp, he made a pig like squeal that, initially, Raven hadn't thought much of. Until, of course, his hair no longer felt like hair, and had somehow become frumpy, soft skin instead. She grasped at his head, wondering where the ghost hair had gone, terrified that perhaps her magic had somehow turned him bald. The more she pressed, the more her fingers sunk into his fatty flesh, and by the time she'd realized that Beast Boy's fantastic mane of hair could never have such a strange texture, she'd nearly killed the thing she was holding onto instead.

Raven's eyes shot open as she awoke with a start to a distraught Silkie nestled in her arms, wiggling to get away as his slime excrement coated the empath's face.

She nearly gagged before letting the creature scurry away, wiping at the gross, thick liquid that had also gotten into her hair and clothes.

" _Yech_!" She whined, sputtering helplessly as some of it covered her face and lips.

She wiped relentlessly at the goo with her blanket, trying not to let anger and annoyance consume her enough to annihilate Starfire's precious, mutant pet.

" _Damn you, Silkie_ ," she fumed darkly.

When there was a new rustling in the bed, Raven's curious gaze was drawn to Beast Boy's sleeping, drooling form beside her as he dozed peacefully on his stomach. His arms were wrapped tightly around his pillow, while he breathed softly in his slumber, unaware of the goings-on around him. The room was dead silent except for the occasional breeze that played with the curtains by the window. Somewhere, Silkie could be heard whimpering while hiding away in Beast Boy's quarters.

Raven sat up in the bed and tried adjusting back to reality, wiping at the beaded sweat of her brow while both her breathing and pulse wound down into a normal rhythm.

A dream.

It had been nothing more than a _dream_.

Somehow, that only made matters _worse_.

When she wasn't kissing Beast Boy in his sleep, she was _dreaming_ about kissing him in his sleep. Moreover, she was dreaming that he'd kiss her _back_.

" _Ugh_ ," Raven groaned into her hands.

"Mmmff, wha's goin' on?" Beast Boy muttered sleepily, startling Raven and making her visibly stiffen.

She flinched and turned to see him beginning to sit up, rubbing at his half-lidded eyes while his bedsheets moved to rest at his abdomen. Raven's cheeks coloured when she caught herself staring, unable to shake the vividness of her dreams upon noticing his stark, green nudity.

She looked away before he could catch her, knowing it was too late to plop back into bed and pretend to be asleep.

"Raven?" He called out tentatively when he caught sight of her hunched over back.

He moved closer, leaning in to get a better look at the disturbed Titan's expression. "Uh…is there a reason you're up so early?"

Her dark hair glistened with Silkie's slime in the pale moonlight that filtered through the window, and Beast Boy physically cringed. "What the heck is that?!"

Raven only sighed, turning her head away so that he couldn't see how red her cheeks probably were. It was hard enough coming to terms with the fact that she'd basically made out with Silkie, let alone while she'd been thinking about the shapeshifter.

Beast Boy reached out a hand to touch the offensive glob of moisture in her hair, pulling his fingers away with stickiness as realization dawned on him. "Oh, _no_ …," he whispered as he recognized the texture.

His mouth a tight line, he explained, "Silkie likes to take refuge in my bed whenever Star's room is…occupied. I've woken up to him sleeping on my face more times than I can count."

Raven picked up her pillow and threw it at him. "Thanks for the warning," she hissed through gritted teeth.

His speedy reflexes had him catching it before it could make contact with his face, and then he quickly tossed it aside upon feeling more of Silkie's cold slime on his hands.

"I thought I locked the door…maybe he crawled in beforehand," Beast Boy offered up with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I need to shower," Raven said with disdain, flicking the stuff off her hands with disgust.

"He doesn't usually ooze this much unless you give him a terrible fright…," Beast Boy commented.

He stared at her accusingly, to which she glared back. " _I'm_ the victim here, Beast Boy!"

His jaw twitched when he hesitantly asked, "Bad dreams?"

Raven's ears grew hot while her eyes widened at the question. "N-no," she squeaked in response.

Beast Boy raised a brow in suspicion but, for some reason, didn't press her for an elaboration.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Starfire's always licking that stuff off Silkie. She swears it's got medicinal qualities, but I always figured she was lying to hide the fact that she just really likes how it tastes." Beast Boy shuddered before falling back into his pillow. "I'll be sure to keep him out next time," he added with a yawn.

Raven groaned miserably; she knew she ought to have taken the opportunity to fall back asleep, but couldn't bring herself to do it, not after…such a disturbing dream.

It had felt so _real_. She was terrified that she'd slip right back into it. She was starting to learn that she couldn't trust herself, not even in sleep.

It didn't help any that both her pillow and her blanket were now coated in cold, thick liquid that smelled like Silkie. She turned her pillow over, and tossed her blanket onto the floor in irritation, opting to sleep without any covers. She hugged her bare arms, and cradled her naked legs against one another, trying to ignore the gross feeling of her wet hair.

Was one decent night of sleep too much to ask for?

* * *

Much to her surprise, Raven awoke from a long, dreamless and restful slumber in Beast Boy's bed. She couldn't remember having fallen asleep or when, but at some point, her anger had faded enough to allow her a moment of rest. She was also surprised to find that the sun was shining from a higher point in the sky than she was accustomed to upon waking. The bed was empty, save for herself and a curled up, passed out Silkie next to her. The mutant worm had seemingly replaced the green changeling, dozing contently in the warmth of the sun on her teammate's side of the bed. Raven noticed that a soft blanket, not her own, had been thrown over her sleeping form at some point when she'd wiped out.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that she'd unknowingly slept in.

Raven almost _never_ slept in. Unless she was injured, and her healing factor would kick in, she was almost always awake before everyone else in the Tower.

If even Beast Boy was up and about, then there was no doubt she'd been the last one to get out of bed. She shot up like a bullet, scrambling out from beneath the covers like a madwoman, and disturbing Silkie's happy sleep cycle by throwing Beast Boy's blanket over him.

 _Someone_ was going to notice; someone, namely Robin or Starfire, Raven thought in horror.

As she slowly tiptoed out of Garfield's room in a terrified panic, closing the door behind her, Raven's worst fears were realized.

The empath had been resilient all of her life; she'd survived the fall of Azerath, survived her apocalyptic fate, and even survived her father, the great Trigon. Yet, all it took for the all-powerful sorceress to feel as if her whole world was coming undone, was a mere, honest question;

"Uhm, Raven, what were you doing in Beast Boy's room?"

* * *

 **A/N:** _Suspenseful, right? Not much left to go with this story, as we draw closer to a conclusion._ _Could be one or two more chapters, I'm still not too sure yet. Anyways, I'd say I was sorry about the dream sequence but you all know I'm probably lying anyways. Thanks for reading!_


	5. Part 5

**A/N:** _You guys are all amazing. That is all._

* * *

 **Black Honey**

 **Part 5**

* * *

Demons were supposed to be _good_ liars. It was technically part of the whole 'pure evil' package deal. Trigon, for example, was a master manipulator. How else did one take over an entire dimension in such little time?

His daughter, on the other hand, was not as graceful. Raven could hardly lie herself out of anything on a _good_ day. She was okay at lying by omission, and the occasional white lie as well, but a pure, black as sin _lie_? It was rare that things ever had to come to that at all, and the idea of having to do something so heinous to any of her friends caused her mouth to instantly clamp up with guilt.

Raven had slept in, thanks to a dream she'd sooner forget, and it just so happened that the one time she awoke nearly past noon, was one of the times she'd shared Beast Boy's bed.

It was easy what one could deduce from such a predicament when all they needed to do was simply connect all the dots. Raven's face grew hotter, and her heartbeat more errant with every passing second the more she thought about what could be racing in her teammate's head. As she stood there like a convicted felon, with a seriously rough case of bed hair and wearing only her flimsy night clothes that consisted of an askew, thin tank top and tiny shorts, it was easy to see why anyone would reach the worst possible conclusion.

To make matters worse, of all the Titans to have caught her in such a questionable state, it was _Robin_ who had seen her trying to stealthily escape Beast Boy's room in the morning. The world's greatest detective's protégé. If anyone would be able to see through her best lies, it would be him. She may as well have been transparent, but how could she ease his worries efficiently when her own worries concerned him and his girlfriend?

Robin was currently examining her peculiarly, his mouth open in question and his arms folded over his chest, while she could practically see the gears in his head slowly turning as he grappled with the idea of Raven and Beast Boy sharing a bed at night. Raven rammed her back against the door, scouring her mind for something, _anything_ , that would help her get out of this mess with as much grace as possible.

"I-It's not what it looks like!" She blurted out in her own defense, her cheeks reddening.

So much for grace.

Robin raised an eyebrow, clearly scrutinizing her from beneath the mesh of his mask. "Really? Because it looks like you slept in Beast Boy's room, Raven." He eyed her pajama wear accusingly.

For once in her life, Raven wished she had possessed her father's skill at _something_ , such as lying for example, to get her out of what was becoming an extremely tight spot. "I was just looking for Beast Boy. I needed his help with…something," she stammered futilely, floundering like a fish out of water.

Robin responded by remaining skeptical of her claims, raising his eyebrows in obvious disbelief, clearly unimpressed with the fact that Raven was hiding something from him. "And you need a pillow and blanket to do that?" His gaze shifted to the accursed objects held tightly in her embrace.

Knowing when she was defeated, Raven sighed exasperatedly and slumped down against Beast Boy's door. It had been silly of her to assume that she could have talked her way out of this one, especially to Robin, and she had made herself out to look like an ass for even trying.

"Tell me what's going on, Raven. You know you can talk to me about anything," the Titan leader then reassured her with a friendly tone of voice, and an affable hand on her shoulder.

When she dared to gaze up at him, he wore a small, forthright smile. The same one she'd come to confide in and respect throughout the years they'd spent building a strong friendship. Raven realized that, by even attempting to lie to him, she had probably hurt his feelings, and made him feel that perhaps, he was untrustworthy now. It was the farthest thing from the truth, and she wished so badly that she could simply come clean about everything. It would be so much easier to give in and have a sympathetic ear to complain to; perhaps he'd take her concerns seriously, maybe even slow it down with Starfire, and Raven could finally get her room back. No more sharing space with Beast Boy, and more importantly, no more conflicting feelings about kissing him, either.

She would be free to return to normal, and it would be glorious.

As Raven stared into Robin's endearing face, finding nothing but benevolence and a willingness to understand, she was tempted to finally do it; to divulge every detail about the debacle and put it to rest for good.

Her hooded eyes shifted to the ground guiltily, and she rubbed at her temple in mild aggravation, coming to terms with where she needed to start. In a barely audible voice, she confessed with a heavy sigh, "Okay, fine. I've been sleeping in Beast Boy's room…"

It was hard to admit to, hard to tell Robin the truth after she'd blatantly tried to convince him of the opposite. Her eyes remained fixed to the ground where she could just make out the tips of his booted feet.

"I got that. Any reason as to why? Is there something wrong with your own room?" Robin queried.

It was nice that, even if he had jumped to conclusions, Robin didn't voice them. Instead, he skillfully avoided bringing up any subject matter that might make her more uncomfortable, and allowed _her_ to reveal to him as much as she wanted. Someone else might have asked her, _why_ _Beast Boy_? Someone else might have passed more judgement, and made her feel like a filthy criminal. Someone else, but not Robin. Never Robin.

That was when Raven realized she couldn't do it.

She couldn't just ask Robin to stop sleeping with his girlfriend because it inconvenienced _her_. After all the trials and tribulations the pair had gone through to even get to this point in their relationship, it would have been both cruel and embarrassing to be called out for such a basic urge like lovemaking. They deserved to be happy and in love, and if the worst that came of it was Raven having to share a room with Beast Boy, then so be it. Besides that, the changeling had ensured all the comfort of the world to her and, if she was being perfectly honest, it wasn't as bad as anyone might have guessed.

So long as he never found out about her having kissed him, of course.

Then, for the very first time in all her history, Raven came up with something better than a lie; a _half truth_.

"There _is_ something wrong with my room, Robin," she started, pretending to look nervous about the cryptic subject matter she was about to reveal to him. "It's _infested_."

"Uh, infested? Are you saying we have a pest problem?" Robin appeared slightly disgusted by this news, physically cringing despite his best efforts to remain cool.

Raven nodded curtly. "They're definitely pests, but not the kinds we can just get Beast Boy or Silkie to clear out," she began, doing her best to appear as morose as possible. "You see, I was…practicing a new spell from a book I recently acquired, and…I may have been a bit too ambitious," she informed him rather sheepishly.

The truth aspect of her little tale was that she had, indeed, been sleeping in Beast Boy's room. The lie, however, was finally coming together thanks to Robin. He had practically given her the idea, and the more she elaborated on the falsehood, the more it snowballed, growing bigger and bigger until Raven herself had a hard time discerning if it were true or not.

"I was supposed to be summoning a familiar; something sinister from a dark dimension. I thought that it would come in handy in a fight," she elaborated, staring at her own pale hands as she spoke. "I must have said the spell wrong, or mispronounced a word, I'm not sure…" Raven feigned grabbing at her head in agony, being as dramatic as she could to win Robin's sympathy.

Judging by the way he held her steady by the shoulders, she knew she was winning. Trigon would have been proud.

"Either way, whatever it was that I called upon would not obey me and, instead, sought to enslave me, and any mortal who may get near it. I guess you can say, the spell backfired. Horribly," Raven whispered, trying to look guilty for her actions, as she would have if any of it were true.

"What can we do to stop it? Is it free in the tower?" Robin was in leader mode, ready to act in a heartbeat.

Here, she had to be more careful. Raven licked her lips before venturing forward with her carefully woven tale. "I've contained it, and all its brethren, with a ward spell. It cannot leave the confines of my room for now. However, until I can find a way to reverse the spell and banish it, there's nothing else to be done. If any mortal dares to confront it, you _will_ become its thrall," she explained ominously.

It was Raven's turn to grab a hold of Robin instead, taking him by mild surprise when she leaned in and searched the planes of his handsome face. "Let me handle this; don't let any Titan engage it. I'm close to figuring it out, so it's only a matter of time. The last thing anyone wants is a powerful Titan in the control of a demon."

Robin's expression remained stoic and unflinching, but after a moment of contemplation, he nodded his assent. "Alright. I'll leave this one to you, then. However, the second this thing gets out of hand, we're all going to intervene," he warned her.

Raven's eyes were downcast as she hugged her pillow and comforter closer to her. "I understand."

"Good. So, why Beast Boy's room?"

Raven blanched, her violet eyes widening in panic as her careful act slowly fell apart. After all that, and he _still_ had questions. She should have known better than to think it was over so easily.

"Beast Boy was the only one who knew about it! He, uh, walked in on me trying to contain it, and helped keep it busy until I could cast the ward spell. I didn't want to freak anyone else out, or give you reason to worry, so he offered up his room until I could, uhm, figure things out," Raven hastily added.

Robin frowned, and for a moment, Raven was nervous enough to think that maybe this time, he didn't buy into her cheaply put together lie. He scratched at his chin, lost in thought, and perplexed by her words, no doubt running through his long-term memory to see if everything she had said added up. The seconds that trudged onwards felt like agonizing hours, and it was all she could do not to teleport into hiding, too cowardly to face Robin once he'd catch her in such an elaborate lie.

Then, finally deciding on how to address the situation, Robin regarded Raven with a tight-lipped expression. "I'm glad to hear he's been helpful, but Raven, you really should have come to me about this sooner. We can easily set you up with a temporary room…"

Raven ought to have been relieved. Really, she should have jumped at the opportunity. It was, after all, what she ultimately wanted. Peace and quiet. Her own space. Somewhere to meditate undisturbed. A bed all for herself.

On paper, it was a dream come true. So why did she hesitate?

Even in the near future, she'd still struggle with trying to understand what had possessed her to have said what she said next. With a shake of her head, Raven replied as easily as the thought came into her head. "No, thanks. Beast Boy's been surprisingly accommodating. It would only hurt his feelings if I did that to him now after everything he's gone out of his way to do for me…"

One thing was for certain; none of _that_ had been a lie.

* * *

The universe was playing cruel tricks on her, at the amusement of the gods, it would seem. It was the only reasonable explanation. How else would everything have spiraled so out of control? One minute, Raven was peaceably hanging out with her fellow teammates, and the next, she was alone with Beast Boy in the garage of the tower, settling on the back of his ridiculous moped, and going out on a spontaneous excursion that had been entirely devised by her _own_ making.

After her nerve-wracking run-in with the boy wonder earlier in the day, the rest of the afternoon had gone by smoothly enough, given the circumstances. Raven had practically all but forgotten about the incident, until, of course, Starfire had thought to question her rather peculiar absence that morning.

"It is most unusual, friend, that you were not awake at the hour of the day that I would normally find you on the sofa, reading a book with your morning tea," the flame haired princess noted with mild concern.

Raven visibly tensed, but before she could even think of formulating an adequate response, Robin had decided to be the one to disclose the rather pertinent information to the rest of his team. "Raven had to spend the night in Beast Boy's room, Star," he explained nonchalantly, before picking at some veggie and dip placed on the coffee table.

Cyborg spat out the soda in his mouth, Starfire dropped her own vegetable on her lap, dip and all, and the tip of Beast Boy's elven ears burned a bright pink. The boy wonder, on the other hand, remained indifferent on the subject.

"She accidentally summoned some kind of evil spirit, and it's overtaken her room, so, until she can banish it, she's sleeping in his room," Robin continued, munching on a carrot.

Everyone in the lounge seemed to collectively let out the breath they never knew they'd been holding.

"Next time, maybe try a bit of context _first_ , Rob," Cyborg advised irritably, attempting to clean up the soda with a napkin. He then paused and gave their leader an incredulous look. "Wait a sec; did you say _evil spirit_?!"

Raven coloured, staring into her lap as she felt the heat of all her teammates' eyes on her. Two out of the four Titans would no doubt know of her little fib by now; she was hoping they'd overlook it and play along, to avoid hurting Robin and Starfire's feelings, and to avoid looking like an imbecile herself, of course.

"We must put an end to the spirt of evil immediately!" Starfire growled in rage, her eyes glowing with a surge of green energy as she floated into the air with starbolts at the ready.

"No, Star, don't! According to Raven, it can infect mortals and make them its slaves. We have to trust Raven; she can handle this," Robin told his paramour, calmly holding her hand and bringing her back down to the sofa. Slowly, her eyes returned to their normal state, and her starbolts dissipated.

"How can we be certain it shall not escape?" Starfire argued, unconvinced.

Robin looked to Raven to explain this part, as did everyone else in the room. The empath fidgeted nervously beneath their questioning stares. "I…I placed a ward…around my room. It can't escape…," she told them meekly, no longer confident in her string of lies.

When it was evident that the empath no longer cared to elaborate further, Robin took up the mantle instead. "Beast Boy happened to be there when this thing was unleashed, so he was the only one who knew about it," he explained.

The Titan in question blinked a few times in confusion, still obviously trying to process everything being said as if his own memory had somehow lapsed. "Uh, come again? Beast Boy did what now?" The changeling finally piped up, seemingly recovered from the previous accusation.

Raven turned to him, her eyes wide in terror as she silently pleaded with him not to blow her cover.

He didn't seem to pay her distraught expression any mind.

"I don't remember any of this, dudes. There is no demon spiri- _mff_!"

Raven hastily placed her hand over Beast Boy's mouth before he could utter another word, catching him off guard as he mumbled into her palm a muffled protest.

"Don't mind him! He's just, uh, upset because I promised to take him out for waffles this morning and totally forgot!" Raven lied again in a higher pitched voice than normal, dragging Beast Boy out of the room slowly while he squirmed in confusion.

Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg watched on slack jawed as their two other teammates continued to act strangely. Raven didn't let go of Beast Boy until they'd both vanished beyond the hallway, safely tucked away from the other Titans' prying eyes and ears.

"Dude! _What the hell_?!" Beast Boy sputtered angrily when he was free, fixing the empath with an annoyed glare while he wiped at his mouth in disgust. "For the record, your hand tastes like sanitizer, and that was totally uncalled for!" He wiped his tongue on his shirt, made a face at the new flavour that tainted his taste buds, and proceeded to gag. " _Yech_!"

"You were going to blow my cover!" She seethed in a low, threatening whisper. "Why couldn't you just go along with it?!"

"How the heck am I supposed to know that you _lied_ to Robin?" Beast Boy argued back.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yes, because when he caught me leaving your bedroom, it would have been _so_ much easier to just tell him the truth, right?" The sarcasm in her tone was palpable.

This piece of information seemed to calm Beast Boy down as he puzzled out exactly what had transpired. "He caught you?" He asked in a quieter voice.

She sighed, her anger leaving so that the impending exhaustion could settle in. "Yes, so I made it all up, okay? I'll tell you everything over waffles so that our stories match up. Now, go get your stuff from your room, and let's go," she instructed coldly.

Beast Boy scratched at the back of his head, still appearing mildly puzzled by her words. "Wait a sec, you mean we're actually going out for breakfast? Raven, it's like, lunch time."

She rubbed at her pulsing temples in exasperation. "I don't care where we go, but we have to leave _now_ ; I already told them I owed you an outing," she pressed earnestly, not wishing to engage with her other teammates for the time being.

He broke into a handsome, toothy grin. "If it's a date, I'm down." He winked at her, earning him a darkening scowl from the empath, but Raven couldn't deny the way her face flushed warmly in response.

* * *

"We are _not_ taking the moped," Raven stated matter-of-factly. She was putting her foot down, her arms folded resolutely over her chest as she harrumphed in protest, unmoving.

She hated that stupid, childish thing.

It was an over glorified toddler's accessory, and she'd sooner be caught dead than seen riding on the back of it. Not to mention, the unflattering helmet head that would result afterwards.

Garfield whined as he tried handing her a matching, white helmet to no avail. "Aw, come on, Rae. You know we can't take the T-Car without Cy, and last time I checked, you couldn't stand public transit. Besides, it's been so long since I've taken my baby out for a spin," he pleaded.

Buses were grossly overcrowded, and Raven may have had a mild form of claustrophobia. The last time she was forced onto a tightly packed bus, her powers went on the fritz due to her spike in anxiety, and the entire street shut down.

Raven groaned, and snagged the helmet from Beast Boy after he spent a few minutes wearing down her defenses in the form of an adorable green kitten. "Ugh, _fine_. I can't believe I did this to myself," she admonished with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, it won't be that bad! I have the whole day figured out," Beast Boy tried convincing her, but Raven only moaned in response.

"How did you manage to do that when we only _just_ decided to go out?" She asked him as she begrudgingly put on the helmet.

Beast Boy was already on his moped, revving the little engine up as he waited for her to climb on. He grinned cockily and answered, "Never underestimate a master date planner, Rae. When you've wined, and dined as many fine ladies as I have, it's important to have a contingency plan at all times!"

Raven, recognizing the familiar way in which Beast Boy made up for all his insecurities and self doubt, chose to merely scoff and brush off his forced arrogance rather than address it. "Whatever…," she dismissed him, knowing all too well what it was like to be considered an outcast among the many. Just because the two of them happened to handle their trouble conforming in different ways, didn't mean that she couldn't understand such complex emotions.

Once the helmet was secured, she threw a leg over the vehicle, and sat down on the small, awkward bike. "You gotta hang on to me, Rae, or you'll fall off," he warned her when he noticed that she kept her hands on the sides of the moped.

Raven hated the idea of having to wrap her arms around Beast Boy's waist, but mostly she hated the way her own mind was making a big deal out of it. This was, after all, her own fault. With a moderate grumble, she slowly leaned forward and ran her fingers over his sides and towards his abdomen, grateful to Azar that he didn't have to see her reddening face. She tried to keep her grip light, so that she didn't have to feel his taut muscles beneath his spandex tight shirt, or the heat emanating from his body. However, by the time he sped off, she found herself clutching him tightly, her fingers digging into his ribs while she tried to remain calm as he zipped along and down the roads like the roadrunner. Beast Boy wasn't exactly a reckless driver by any means, but the jitters of the bike coupled with any sharp turns and speed bumps made Raven feel as if she were going to fall off and die in some horrible, fiery accident.

When they finally arrived at their destination, her hands were practically cramped in the position of a claw, and she had to pry herself off him. She'd spent the entire ride with her eyes closed, as the wind made them tear up, and she couldn't bring herself to look upon their surroundings during the drive. When she was finally able to take in where they were, her expression was incredulous.

"The movies?" She couldn't mask the disappointment in her voice as she looked up at the daunting cinema building.

Beast Boy put away his helmet before replying, "Yeah, there's a new flick I've been meaning to see. I think you'll like this one."

Raven frowned, sincerely doubting that; every time Beast Boy would think she'd enjoy something, she often ended up hating it, or, in the least, indifferent.

Nonetheless, since she was the reason they were even in this mess in the first place, she figured she could at least _try_. "What's it about?" She asked as she proceeded to remove her helmet and fix the mess that had become her hair.

Beast Boy appeared amused by the state the deep violet strands were in, but made no comment to it when he caught the look of irritation on her comely features while she worked her fingers through the static wisps. "It's a…psychological thriller, I think. Based on a popular book. Maybe you've read it," he answered with a casual shrug, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

She had to raise an eyebrow at that. Since when did Beast Boy appreciate a good suspense and mystery story?

"I know what you're thinking; why would _I_ ever like something so boring, right?" Beast Boy seemingly read her thoughts, but he was smirking confidently. "I wasn't going to drag you to something I knew you'd hate, Rae. Besides, I'm trying to branch out a bit, you know?"

"But why?" Raven blurted out before she could stop herself.

Beast Boy shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I'm inspired to try new things," he ventured while kicking a pebble across the way, somehow also unsure in his own explanation.

It shouldn't have made her feel bad. If anything, she should have been happy, proud even, that the resident changeling was finally growing up a little. Not that tastes in movies directly reflected maturity; it was more so the action behind it that spoke volumes.

Beast Boy had thought of her, and was willing to sit through something he might not enjoy if it meant that she could have a good time with him.

It was completely and utterly selfless, and it made Raven feel like _she_ was the one lagging behind in wisdom for a change.

He had given up his room, given up his bed, tidied up, and done everything he could to make her comfortable and welcome. Now, she'd forced him out on a date because of her ridiculous lie, and _he_ was the one treating her to a movie she'd probably like, along with complimentary popcorn and snacks.

A small voice in her head asked her what had she done for _him_ recently?

Nothing.

Her mind was an empty abyss.

She'd done _nothing_ for him.

"What's wrong?"

Now she was worrying him, too.

"N-nothing. You shouldn't have bought the tickets. I could have paid for mine," she gulped, but the lump in her throat persisted.

Beast Boy's easy and lax demeanour returned. "Nah, I'm the one who wants to see the movie, only fair that I pay. You can spot me next time," he persisted. "Now, let's go get seats before all the good ones are taken!" He munched on some popcorn before grabbing her by the hand and leading her down the corridor, never stopping to notice the way the flustered empath stared at the various contrasts between her hand and his.

When they entered the theatre room they were assigned, Beast Boy shifted into a green falcon, and soared over to a pair of isolated, centre seats that were closer to the back. He morphed into himself again, and victoriously gloated at Raven, proud for nabbing what he considered were the best seats in the house.

"Everyone says this movie has a really good plot twist," he whispered into her ear once they were both settled in, and the previews had ended.

"I've heard of this book; it's actually on my list," Raven confessed shyly.

Although she most certainly preferred a more literary approach to her media entertainment, movies were often a different interpretation of the books, and she found that she could enjoy both in different capacities. Regardless, once she'd recognized the title Beast Boy had picked, she was far more excited than she'd initially been.

"I think you might actually like this one, too, Beast Boy," she added with a genuine smile.

For some reason, it made her somewhat giddy to acknowledge that, maybe, they would both leave the theatre equally excited about what they'd just watched. Her smile widened at the thought of having someone to discuss it with who would have just as much fervor as she would, if not more. That person being Beast Boy, for some reason, only made her look forward to it even more.

The changeling grinned in between mouthfuls of popcorn. "I don't know, Rae. I get cranky without aliens or spaceships," he joked, his verdant eyes shining in the darkness of the room.

However, despite his general misgivings, it turned out that Beast Boy _did_ end up enjoying the movie after all, utterly immersed in the intricate storyline and complex character relationships more than he would ever have let on.

Meanwhile, it was Raven that had found herself distracted this time around; too enraptured by the way the film had captured Beast Boy, instead.

She couldn't help herself.

The movie was right up her alley, as Beast Boy had accurately predicted, and yet, she couldn't for her life keep her attention focused when she was seated so closely to the one person who plagued her guilty thoughts in the dead of night.

Every now and again, she'd side-glance at the changeling, and find herself mesmerized by his features, temporarily forgetting all that was going on in the film, losing herself in the simplicity of his honest expression.

It wasn't unlike when he'd been asleep next to her, the eerie light of the movie mirroring the moonlight in his room. He wasn't eating any popcorn anymore, too enthralled with what was happening in the film, but his lips were parted and his eyes remained wide and unblinking as he watched anxiously.

The movie itself was wrought with romantic and sexual tension, obviously intended for a more mature audience with its borderline pornographic scenes. They left Raven turning a brilliant shade of crimson, and slumping into her seat self consciously, trying her best not to look at the screen, or hear the explicit sounds of love making loudly echoing in the quiet theatre. Beast Boy, on the other hand, hardly seemed affected by any of it. Although the sex and nudity weren't gratuitous so much as they were put in to help further a disturbing plot, it still helped that everyone was unapologetically attractive. More than once, Raven found herself wondering if all women were supposed to look like that, and do those things in such an intimate setting.

Raven had spent a lot of her time around Starfire, so these insecurities weren't anything new. However, Starfire was an alien, and she took comfort in the fact that her being so good looking had everything to do with her flawless genetics. Even Blackfire, for as evil as she was, had still been quite the looker.

The women in this film, though, were most certainly human, and that left Raven feeling somewhat…lacking.

Beast Boy's hand brushed against hers unknowingly, and it effectively managed to bring her out of her self imposed, tormented thoughts. Only, Raven quickly discovered that, although she'd come out of the frying pan, she'd shortly be thrown into the fire.

Some of the couples in the theatre had started making out, and their lust filled emotions were beginning to unsettle the sensitive empath. She hadn't noticed it before, but many of the people attending the showing _were_ young couples, and it made Raven subconsciously recoil her hand away from the armrest where it had been nestled comfortably against Beast Boy's. How many people would have assumed that they, too, were officially an item? How many would think that they were on a date?

Raven did her best to ignore this line of thinking, as well as to shut out the infectious emotions roiling off of such hormonal youth among her, but all she could find herself thinking about were Beast Boy's cursed lips, and how soft and pliant they'd been beneath her own…

A dream girl, he had called her when he'd recounted his tale to Cyborg.

How disappointed would he have been to find out his supposed 'dream girl' had been _her_ all along?

Despite her lack of confidence and her own insecurities, Raven was still unable to prevent the way she felt in that moment, as if her body wished to act on impulse alone. Only, that current impulse included kissing Beast Boy in the middle of a packed theatre, and that was most definitely a no-no.

By the time the film finally drew to a most unsettling conclusion, Raven felt as if it had taken all her willpower not to have leaned over and captured the changeling's parted lips for a third time yet. She let out a shaky breath, one she'd been holding long enough to have starved her lungs for oxygen, and thanked whatever gods had put an end to her torment, along with the stuffy, hormone driven emotions that had clouded her judgement.

"Cheese on a cracker, that was incredible! I almost want to read the book now, too!" Beast Boy exclaimed once the lights came back on and the credits started to roll. "What did you think of it, Raven?" He turned to her expectantly.

It was hard to formulate a detailed opinion on something she'd only half watched, when she'd been too distracted otherwise. "It was pretty good," she surmised with a quick nod, disappointed that she didn't have as much to say as she would have liked.

Why was she like this?

Beast Boy, satisfied with her somewhat baseless answer, stretched out his sore limbs, and Raven had to avert her gaze to avoid staring at the way his shirt rode up his defined torso. Then, like a lightbulb switching on, he perked up excitedly. "Why don't we head to the bookstore and see if they've got a copy?" Before she could put in her two cents, Beast Boy was already heading for the exit, his head somewhere in the clouds.

* * *

"You don't even _like_ bookstores," Raven commented as she climbed back onto Beast Boy's moped.

"Yeah, but they have comics now, and there's a café next door with some wicked apple pie," he rebutted, bringing the engine to a contented hum.

Raven regarded him skeptically. "You know you can't bring food into the store with you, right?" she reminded him while she struggled to put the helmet on.

"That's why we'll grab a bite first, then go and have a gander at their selection," he explained simply, as if it were the most obvious, logical chain of events.

Beast Boy seemed to have a response for everything, and it disturbed the empath how hellbent he was on making a day of their outing.

"Why are you doing this?" Raven blurted out in a husky whisper, her tone uncharacteristically coloured with emotion as she chewed her bottom lip anxiously.

Beast Boy pouted for the first time that day. He kept the moped parked, and turned to acknowledge his teammate with a slight frown, his brows knitted in worry. "Are you not having a good time, Raven?"

Despite his off-putting demeanour, there was still a tinge of hope in his expression, as if he were pleading with her to allay his concerns.

Raven stiffened.

It wasn't Beast Boy's fault that she was unable to handle certain social interactions, nor was it his problem that she was so guilt ridden and anxious. Yet, somehow, she felt that she always made things worse between them instead of better.

"I-I'm fine, it's just…We could have gone back to the tower right after the film, there's no need to keep up the charade anymore."

His shoulders slumped in defeat, and he sighed deeply, averting his gaze to the handle of his bike. "We can go home if you want…" He made to begin the long drive back to the tower, while Raven contended with the instant regret for her words.

How bad could a trip to a bookstore be? Surely, the other Titans wouldn't care if they spent another hour or so away from home. It wasn't like Beast Boy was dragging her to an amusement park or anything of the ilk.

Raven eventually managed to convince herself that there was no harm in going through with Beast Boy's plans, and that, in the least, it would make him happy.

She then tapped him on the shoulder, and gave him a cunning, one sided smirk when he turned to look at her. "Too late; now I'm having a mean craving for pie." The empath then folded her arms over her chest, and stuck out her bottom lip petulantly, hoping that, somehow, she'd relinquish some of her guilt.

He stared at her, his expression unchanging, pondering if she was lying for his sake. "Are you sure?" Beast Boy coaxed, his spirits still seemingly down in the dumps.

Raven nodded. "I haven't been able to touch any pie ever since Mother Mae Eye put me in that hideous dress," she confessed with a cold shudder. "Besides, you finished all the popcorn," she added with a pointed stare, but the corners of her lips were tilted upwards in amusement.

"Hey, I totally offered you some!" He countered, his enigmatic grin returning along with the deep laugh lines around his mouth. "And that outfit was totally _cute_ , Rae Rae," he leered, eliciting an angry glower from the embarrassed Titan.

Then, her expression changed into a devious one, effectively disconcerting the changeling.

"Says the kid who wore a pink bunny suit," Raven retaliated in a sultry tone. Beast Boy opened and closed his mouth a few times, but was currently unable to form a coherent sentence in his defense, his ears burning at the memory. Raven moved on, choosing to ignore his floundering predicament. "As for the popcorn, I had a couple of handfuls and then it was gone. Now, I believe you owe me some dessert, bunny boy." She nudged him playfully, and snapped him out of his stupor.

Revving up the small engine, Beast Boy conceded; "What the lady asks for, the lady gets. Now, hold on tight to your cloak, it's gonna be a bumpy ride!"

Raven proceeded to cling to Beast Boy again as he zoomed out of the parking lot at a speed that most certainly could have gotten him quite a few demerit points. He zipped along, all the while Raven pressed her face against his back, holding on to him, and convincing herself that the vehicle was too sturdy to merely tip over from their added weight.

Next time, she thought with gritted teeth, they were going to take the T-Car, regardless of Cyborg's fervent protests.

When the joyride finally ended, Beast Boy kept to his word, and treated Raven to a slice of tart, strawberry rhubarb pie, along with a cup of steaming, herbal tea while she explained every detail of the elaborate lie she'd used on Robin. She had Beast Boy almost in tears by the end of it, forcing him to drink from his soy beverage before he choked on the flan of his apple pie. Normally, she might have grown frustrated with his less than serious attitude, but thinking back to it now, it _was_ sort of funny how she had made up such a ridiculous tale and gotten away with it, too.

 _Of course_ Raven already knew how to summon up a familiar; it was an amateur incantation found in the most common of spell books. Not that she'd tell Beast Boy that bit; he was already rather intimidated by her arcane skillset as it was. Although he had reassured her plenty that it was more admiration than fear, she still had a hard time revealing too much about her abilities to anyone.

Being labelled a freak, a witch, a monster, as well as being generally feared by the public, had taken its toll on Raven, despite the Titans' best efforts, and it left her somewhat self conscious of her own strengths.

So, she kept mum on the subject, and allowed them both to enjoy their snack peacefully as Beast Boy recounted her story to her, ensuring that he would get it right if Starfire or Robin came to question him.

Once they'd finished their dessert, as promised, they stopped by the bookstore next door, where Beast Boy perused the comic section and Raven made mental notes of all the future titles she wished to read. He ended up picking out a few trade paperbacks while Raven refused to make any new purchases until she got through the pile of novels still sitting in her room that she had yet to get to.

When they'd finally decided that it was time to head back to the tower, it was already dusk outside.

Beast Boy parked his moped in the garage, and the pair of them took the elevator up to the common room, already apprehensive about the many, many questions they would face from their most inquisitive friends.

"Hey, Raven?" Beast Boy piped up nervously during the otherwise quiet elevator ride.

"Hmmm?"

"Uh, does this mean you're going to sleep in my room tonight?" There was a boyish charm in the way that he posed his question, and Raven couldn't help how her heart swelled in her chest, ready to burst with barely contained emotion.

"I…I suppose I have to, now that my room is permanently off limits," she hurriedly stammered, unable to meet his eyes as a creeping heat coloured her cheeks.

"I'm cool with that," he confessed, smiling brightly at her. "But, eventually, you're going to have to 'take care' of your demon problem. What happens then?"

His concern wasn't misplaced; Raven had thought about it as well, but the scary truth was that she didn't know herself. "I'll figure something out, I guess," she shrugged, masking her worry with indifference.

When the elevator doors opened, the pair found that the common room was empty save for one member; Cyborg.

From his position on the sofa, he immediately turned around, and fixed Raven and Beast Boy with an insincere, tight lipped smile. "Well, well, well. Look who's back from their date!"

Raven kept a cool facade while Beast Boy staggered next to her. " _D-date_?! We were just hanging out, dude! No need to get all weird about it!" He corrected his friend, although he most certainly appeared bashful at the accusation nonetheless.

Cyborg remained in interrogation mode despite this, slowly working his way to join both the empath and the changeling as he ambled down his list of pressing questions, most of which were aimed at Raven.

"Really, Raven?" He started, pressing in on her with both his human and cybernetic eye. "Of all the lies you could have told him, you picked something _that_ ridiculous?" Cyborg leaned in towards her, the bright, angry red light of his inorganic eye glaring into her violet orbs when she remained silent. "You're gonna have to explain it to them both eventually, and then what? You can't stay in B's room anymore, you can't even take up Robin's offer of a spare space, which I don't even know _why_ you'd refuse in the first place," Cyborg berated her.

Oh, _no_.

"If you go back to tryin' to sleep in your room, you'll nearly kill us in a fight! If you go sneaking around again, you'll only get caught, and won't be able to talk your way out a second time. Case and point, they're going to find out, and when they do, we're all gonna look like the scummiest friends around, Rae. It would have been better if you just told him the damn truth instead of having them find out like this! Heck, if you'd just lied and said that you were sleepin' with Beast Boy, then this would have been so much easier to bury," Cyborg argued, working himself up into a small fit.

Raven stayed quiet, absorbing her teammate's worries like a sponge. Victor wasn't entirely in the wrong, but it didn't stop the changeling from sensing her unease all the same.

"Hey, relax, man. This isn't Raven's fault, okay? We'll all figure something out," Beast Boy tried to calm the situation down, but Cyborg only turned on him next.

"Easy for you to say, B! You're the only one not bothered by it!" He retaliated.

Raven saw Beast Boy's hands curl into fists at his sides, his lips peeling back into a snarl, and dangerous swirls of amber reflect in his otherwise forest green eyes. When he spoke, his voice fell an octave deeper than normal. "Not bothered by it? Are you insane? Of _course_ I'm bothered by it! I can pick up Silkie's farts from the other end of the building, and you think I'm not _bothered_? I can _smell_ them, Cy! It's…it's nauseating, and half the time, I can't _take_ it," Beast Boy cried out, clutching at his head with his fingers.

Raven remembered the candles then, the way he'd always have them lit whenever Robin and Starfire were being intimate…

Of course, it made perfect sense. All this time and she hadn't even paid any mind when it had been so painfully _obvious_.

"I'm a mess during training because I can't sleep at night; it's all I think about, and now it's all I dream about, too…So, please, don't say it doesn't bother me when it _does_ …I just…I was too embarrassed to admit it…," Beast Boy's voice trailed off, and he stared down at his own feet, humiliated.

A look of remorse flashed across Cyborg's more human features, and he placed a gentle hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, little man…I didn't know." He paused, but remained resolute in his decision. "More reason we should just come clean about this whole thing…"

The changeling shook his head slowly. "No, it's fine. I do a lot better with Ra-…with the candles, I mean," Beast Boy stuttered, catching Raven's eyes before forcibly looking away.

Cyborg sighed deeply. "Look, I complain 'cause I might lose some sleep every now and then, but the two of you are havin' some serious issues and it could cost you your life on the battlefield. We need to tell 'em," Cyborg urged, his tone sympathetic.

The changeling disagreed again. "We can't just tell them to stop, Cy. It's not how love works; I've never seen Starfire happier now that Robin's stopped giving her the brush off. Heck, I've never seen _Robin_ this healthy in forever! He used to pour himself into his work, obsess about it in scary ways. Now, he doesn't let it consume him like that, not when he's got Star reminding him of the good things in life," Beast Boy pleaded, no doubt recounting his own experience with the emotion.

The Titans had reached an impasse it seemed, and neither wanted to budge.

"How about we sleep on it?" Raven broke the stalemate, finally adding her voice to the fray. Both sets of eyes turned to her then. "It's a big decision, and I think we _all_ need to agree on a solution. For now, leave it be, and let's think about how we're going to do this without hurting Robin or Starfire's feelings, and potentially ruining their relationship. We owe it to them to at least give it some serious thought," she deplored her teammates.

Beast Boy nodded in agreement. "Rae's right. Maybe we can come up with something else before we should resort to that. It's worth a shot, right?" He looked to Cyborg expectantly.

The oldest Titan appeared exhausted, but closed his eyes and conceded to the terms. "Fine. Tomorrow, we have to figure something out and make a final decision. No more of this pussyfootin' around."

Once they had discovered some common ground at last, the three Titans respectively departed for their bedrooms. About half way down the corridor, and after saying goodnight to Victor, Raven suddenly realized that she couldn't exactly _go_ to her room. She stopped abruptly, lost, and feeling somewhat discombobulated. Her room had been her sanctuary; the one place she would always find refuge and comfort, and now, thanks to her outrageous lie, it was compromised.

She had nowhere else to go.

"You can hang out with me tonight, Rae," Beast Boy's calm voice came from behind her, as if in response to her contrasting, rattled thoughts. "If you want, I mean…," he added hesitantly.

She turned to see him standing there, ever the bumbling, bundle of jittering nerves in the middle of the hallway, his unnatural appearance both strange and familiar at the same time.

Once he'd held her attention, Beast Boy then proceeded to rummage inside of the plastic bag of books he'd purchased until he found what he was looking for. Raven watched him as he pulled out a novel with a recognizable cover, and the same title from the movie they'd gone to see. He then smiled warmly as he extended it out towards her. "I was going to surprise you with it later tonight, but…since you can't exactly get to your room where all your books are, you can have it now instead."

As he spoke, Raven could see a thick, laminated bookmark protruding from inside of the pages, and knew that Beast Boy had purchased it when she hadn't been paying attention back at the store.

The green skinned boy made nothing of it, but within Raven, a storming sea of emotion was boiling over.

It was pathetic and weak, and she hated herself for it, because she'd so rarely ever been disarmed in such a manner. She wanted to cry, she wanted to push him away, she wanted to kiss him, she wanted to collapse to the floor in a dramatic billow of her cloak and sob for all she was worth, because no one, not a soul, had ever done anything for her like this.

Every time she thought she was undeserving, or lonely, or she was angry at the world, she found Beast Boy there, at the ready to pick up the pieces. Like a true friend.

He was always there for her, at her lowest points, celebrating her, embracing her, including her, even when she berated him, or did everything to shut him out. He never faltered, never gave up on her, even when she would give up on herself.

He had bought her a stupid book and a stupider bookmark, and all it made her want to do was _cry_. She should have hated him for it, but all she felt was remorse, and something _else_ she couldn't quite yet place.

Naturally, Raven acted on none of those all-consuming feelings. Instead, she maintained her bravado, and locked away the flurry of emotions that he'd somehow set loose, unbeknownst to him.

She was, after all, a master at unfeeling.

"What about pajamas?" She asked him upon realizing he was still patiently awaiting her response. A shame he would never come to know of the inner storm that raged within her, and all the effort it took to quell her bottom lip from a helpless quiver.

"You can sneak in and grab them while I keep a lookout, or I can always lend you some of mine," he proposed modestly. "I'll read my comics, and you can veg out with your new book."

"I'd rather not risk being caught a second time today, thanks," Raven decided.

"Great! I'll have a look through my clean laundry and see what fits!" Beast Boy exclaimed with a toothy grin, not hesitating a moment longer. He grabbed her by the arm and led her down the hall towards his quarters, eliciting a squeak of surprise from the empath. When they reached his room, he stopped outside his door and kept his head down, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. When he spoke, there was a smile to his voice. "I'm glad you turned down the spare room, Rae. It means we get to hang out without everyone thinking we're being weird, you know?" Raven didn't need to use her empathic powers to tell that Beast Boy was being sincere.

Unfortunately, her ethereal capabilities had not helped her predetermine that such a detail hadn't escaped the shapeshifter after all; that he had caught what Victor had said about Robin offering her a spare room, and how she'd promptly refused him.

Raven blushed, her cheeks colouring a rosy hue, but stayed silent on the subject, not sure she could trust her voice when she was at the mercy of her chaotic, barely contained emotions.

Thankfully, Beast Boy didn't seem to have expected a response, and he swiftly opened his door to allow them both entry to his room.

He managed to lend her a freshly laundered pair of pajamas that included a baggy white t-shirt that read 'Kiss me, I'm a Vegetarian' in black bold letters, along with a pair of blue boxer shorts patterned with an outline of a bird of some sort.

They spent the rest of the evening in a serene silence, doing exactly what he had promised. Raven was given a chance to collect her thoughts, and put to rest her more tumultuous feelings, happily comfortable in his presence while curled up on the bed with a thrilling novel. Meanwhile, Beast Boy was laying on the carpeted floor, staring up into one of the many comic books he'd purchased, resting one of his legs on his other propped up knee, and bouncing it to some invisible rhythm playing in his head.

However, comics were nowhere near as lengthy as novels, and eventually, the changeling got bored and had seemingly dozed off on the floor, snoring softly.

When she noticed that he'd fallen asleep, an unbidden idea came to Raven, and she chewed on her bottom lip as she seriously began to ponder it. As much as she tried, she was unable to focus on her book anymore, too distracted from the moment the thought had entered her mind.

Eventually, she decided that she had to act on it rather impulsively. The empath marked her spot in the book and placed it on the nightstand closest to her before climbing off Beast Boy's bed, and walking towards his flat screen TV.

Raven, seizing the opportunity as a chance to make things right and clear her guilty conscience, did something she'd normally never have done; she turned on Beast Boy's gaming console, and picked up the fantasy adventure game she'd heard him harping about for months, claiming that she'd love it. Initially, when he'd first brought it to her attention, she had remained dubious, as she never had any interest in the games she'd seen him and Cyborg playing together. However, Beast Boy would go out of his way to set up this particular title in the living room while she'd be reading on the couch, all in the vain effort of catching her attention.

Raven had done her best to tune him out back then, choosing to bury her nose further into her novel instead. Over her dead body would she have ever admitted that Beast Boy had succeeded in piquing her interest in a video game, of all things. Yet, the rich depth of lore built into the vast, immersive world he was exploring _had_ been awfully enticing, much to her surprise. Not that she would have ever told _him_ that. Until now, that is.

Once she had booted up the loading screen, the room echoing with the booming, epic battle music from the game, she crawled along the carpeted floor towards Beast Boy's sprawled out form, excited to wake him to the surprising news. She couldn't wait to bear witness to the shock and excitement that would no doubt register on his features when he'd see her with a controller, willingly, in hand. No glue needed this time.

Except, as Raven hovered directly over top of him, her knees on either side of his legs, she found herself hesitating.

Almost immediately, her eyes fell to the full sweep of his mouth, and she suddenly forgot what it was she was supposed to be doing.

All she could hear was the steady thrum of her heartbeat in her ears, like a drum that was slowly gaining momentum the more she listened to its tune, and the air had somehow left her lungs. Raven licked her lips subconsciously, remembering her dream from the night prior. Dear Azar, how she wanted nothing more than to taste him again, to steal a kiss as gentle as the caress of sunlight against his skin.

She found herself leaning in to him, strands of her short, violet hair cascading forward so that she had to tuck her bangs behind her ears to no avail. Her hands steadied her, her palms planted firmly into the plush carpet by his hair.

As her mouth met his for a third time, her eyes fell closed and she relished in the emotions that soared through her anew, like a meteor shower of colour tearing through a midnight sky.

His lips were as soft and warm as she'd remembered, his breath tinged with sweetness from the dessert they'd shared earlier. He was everything she dared to dream of and more, because this time, he was _real_. Sweet Azar, he was real and loving, and, for some reason she could not fathom nor understand, he was _hers_.

Raven kissed him with just a hint more pressure, unable to keep at bay the tragic mewl that escaped her throat as she was overcome with emotion anew, gooseflesh raising along her pale skin, and causing her to linger for a moment longer than she should have.

"Nnnnn," Beast Boy hummed to life, shifting beneath her and rising to not only meet her kiss, but deepen it as well, his fingers grazing against the supple skin of her bare thighs.

He lightly sucked on her upper lip, running the tip of his slick tongue along the entrance to her mouth, and garnered a wonderful gasp from the surprised empath, who shuddered helplessly against him.

Beast Boy's sudden and unprecedented actions made Raven recoil in shock, and she jolted off him, crawling backwards until her back hit the corner of a wall, his honeyed taste still warm on her opened mouth. The controller, and his comic books, were both tossed aside by the edge of the bed, forgotten on the floor. Raven was shaken, eyes wide and wary while her lips tingled where he'd so boldly kissed her.

" _Rae…_ " At first, her name was a hot, breathy whisper that rolled off his sweet tongue wistfully, while Beast Boy fell back down to the floor, seemingly lost to another dream.

He had a stupid, lazy smile plastered onto his face while Raven watched and waited, sucking in one more gasp of air and holding her breath for what felt like forever. Then, his deep green eyes shot open, and he sat up to blink curiously at a most startled, terrified Titan eyeballing him from the corner of his room.

His mouth hung open, and his fingers trailed to his parted lips as realization slowly dawned on him, like a creeping sunset casting its shadow over a forest. Raven could see the knowledge seep into his alarmed eyes, and begin to contort his features, no doubt reflecting her own expression in that moment.

" _Rae-Raven_?!"

* * *

 **A/N:** _There it is. Long as all hell, and took me a week to edit. Apologies for ending it in such a way, but we're drawing to a close, folks. Maybe one more chapter and then an epilogue left. I've been hearing some clambering for some smut, and, although_ _ **this**_ _story is staying T rated, I'm open to potentially writing a standalone one-shot, more explicit epilogue of Black Honey if people are interested. We'll see how I feel. Let me know what you all think, and thanks for reading!_


	6. Part 6

**A/N:** _A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this._ _I know I'm bad at replying to reviews, but I do read them all and appreciate every single one, including guest reviews. Even the silent readers, the ones who follow or favourite, thank you. It's all been so vastly overwhelming and motivating. For the guys on tumblr, also a shout out. Most especially to Amistillfeeling, whom without, this story wouldn't really exist at all. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude. I'm so happy to be part of such a loving fandom, to be so celebrated for a piece of work I did just for fun. You guys are all amazing, never stop._

 _Without further ado, the last installment._

* * *

 **Black Honey**

 **Part 6**

* * *

His first instinct was to _stop her_.

There were so many questions running through his hazy mind, it was staggering.

Nonetheless, it was pure impulse that he acted on, knowing that he had to get to her before she vanished. He needed answers, and they needed to work through this, neither of which would happen if Raven fled the scene, like he knew should would.

"Raven, wait-" His voice was choked up and distant, even as he tried to reach out to her.

The expression on her face betrayed the horror she was no doubt experiencing, the numbing fear. She'd been caught, and so had he.

Beast Boy was shaken, but no where near as jittery and paranoid as the cowering empath. The earth beneath them seemed to come to life, the objects in his room skittering across his floor. The frame of his bed moved, his oak dresser creaked against the tiles in response to an otherworldly force, his toys and figurines clattering to the floor. A few candle jars smashed to the ground in pieces, the glass shards splaying out like dangerous, glittering gems. The candle wax would no doubt stain the wooden panels.

None of it mattered.

He couldn't bring himself to care, not when the girl responsible for so much chaos was so violently distraught. The blood seemed to have drained from Raven's already pale face, all the while she clutched at the sides of her skull, her fingers digging into the roots of her violet hair.

Even now, he could hear the others rushing to his room, the heavy, echoing footfalls of both Cyborg and Robin as they raced down the hall.

The lights in his room flickered on and off, until she burnt them out entirely, the bulbs bursting into an ear-splitting smattering of glass.

He tried to get to her, but some invisible force was stopping him, pushing him back.

The Titans banged on his door, their voices muffled by the whirlwind of catastrophe now contained in his bedroom.

She was spinning out of control, and the more damage she did, the worse it became. Bit by bit, she was overwhelmed with a surge of emotion and, thus, her powers raged on in an endless storm of electricity and malevolence.

"Raven, you don't have to do this!" Beast Boy was still trying to crawl towards her, but his words were lost to her, the empath's eyes flickering between amethyst irises and total opaque white with every blink. The more she struggled against the mercy of her spiritual self, the more it overtook her.

Eventually, she squeezed her eyes shut and managed to summon a portal just as Beast Boy's door came crashing to the ground with an explosive clang. Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg stood in the entryway, primed and ready for battle despite their understated attire. The boy wonder and his girlfriend had very evidently been interrupted, with Starfire wearing only her skimpy lingerie, and Robin donning a pair of boxer briefs, his infamous mask, and his bo staff. Cyborg stood in the centre, his blaster still cooling off, while Starfire's starbolts scorched the ground where she'd taken aim, her eerie eyes aglow.

However, they were only a moment too late; suddenly, Beast Boy's room seemed to settle back into a disconcerting, quiet calm as Raven vanished into the dark, haunting portal, effectively closing it behind her in a final attempt for control. Cyborg's blaster died down as he lowered his weapon, and Starfire's eyes returned to their normal shade of iridescent green, her angry fists uncurling as her starbolts dissipated. Robin put away his staff, and surveyed the extent of the damage in Beast Boy's room. Meanwhile, the changeling rose to his feet and made towards the hallway in a stumbling panic. Raven's portal had acted like a vacuum, sucking with it all her unbalanced emotions and equally unstable powers. Even so, Garfield was hoping to find her in her room; her one sanctuary to which she always fled to when enduring a more personal crisis. He pushed past his stunned teammates, ignoring the sharp, stabbing pain of glass digging into the soles of his bare feet, and jogged to her quarters, banging his fists furiously against the metal door when he reached it.

"Raven, if you're in there, open up, please!" He cried out, but to no avail.

She wasn't in her room.

She wasn't even in the tower, as they would all later come to learn.

Raven was gone, and Beast Boy had a lot of quick thinking and explaining to do.

The shapeshifter sighed heavily and slumped his shoulders in defeat, banging his forehead against the cold metal upon realizing that she was not there. His fingers slid down the smooth surface of her door, knowing that her scent was gone; only lingering around her room in a subtler manner.

"She ain't on the rooftop, either," Cyborg noted after he'd checked his surveillance cameras.

It was the only other spot the empath was known to frequent, besides the more obvious common room couch.

"What the heck happened?" Robin demanded, marching up to Beast Boy in a huff.

Starfire drifted nearby, her long, unruly red hair flowing behind her. "Is friend Raven all right? Is she in some kind of danger?"

"What did you do? Did you say something to upset her?" Robin pushed.

Beast Boy shut his eyes in frustration, and ground his teeth together, a wave of supressed anger causing him to shake with the urge to turn around and scream at his unsuspecting teammates.

"I didn't _do_ or say anything!" He snapped, turning to fix the three of them with a snarl. "Why do you always just assume the worst of me? Why don't any of you _trust_ me?"

Although his unmitigated anger had caught Cyborg, Starfire, and Robin off guard, it was the sadness in his eyes that truly stumped them and left them speechless. None of them were quite accustomed to seeing this side of Beast Boy, his lax and easy going attitude having become a staple and a norm for their team.

"I've done literally everything I can to help Raven through this, and she's even told you as much. The second something goes wrong, everyone's quick to point the finger at _me_. This isn't my fault! Can't you see I'm trying to fix it?" He pleaded, his voice breaking despite his best effort to maintain a sense of levelheadedness.

When he was done, Garfield averted his remorseful gaze to his feet, too ashamed by his outburst and red in the face to comply with the scrutiny of his teammates.

A gentle hand then rested on his shoulder and drew his attention. He looked up to find Starfire smiling sincerely at him, her expression laced with concern and genuine worry for her friend. When she spoke, her voice was calming and serene, and not unkind. "We are sorry if we have made you feel this way, Beast Boy. You are our friend, and our teammate. In battle, I trust you with my life. In friendship, I trust you just as equally. Please, do explain to us what has happened to Raven."

Feeling inspired by Starfire's speech, Robin stepped up next, appearing a mite chastised as he scratched at the back of his head. "I had no idea that you felt that way, Beast Boy. I didn't mean anything by it, I just assumed…never mind. I shouldn't have assumed. I know what you've been doing for Raven these past couple of days, and I guess I'm the one not yet used to you guys getting closer…I'm sorry, Beast Boy." The Boy Wonder gave him an apologetic smile, and extended his hand as a sign of friendship. Beast Boy took it, and they shook on it, a mutual understanding unspoken between them.

Victor was also under the impression that he owed Beast Boy an apology. "I believe you, B. Never doubted you for a minute. You're my best bud, you know that," he was sure to add, sparing an easy grin for the changeling.

Beast Boy then spoke up in a small voice, feeling suddenly humbled by his friends' kind words as he returned to staring at his bleeding feet. "I shouldn't have snapped like that. It's just, I'm worried about Raven, you know…?"

Even though it may have sounded like an excuse, it was the truth. Beast Boy knew, deep down in his heart, that it wasn't necessarily his fault for her reaction, but he still couldn't help placing the blame on himself. All the time that the Titans had squabbled pointing fingers at him, he could have been using trying to find her, talk to her, hash out…whatever it was that was going on between them. For his life, he couldn't figure out what had been plaguing the empath's mind. He could still barely recount the incident that had started all of this.

One minute, he'd fallen asleep, lost to a dream with her, the next he was awake and living it; _kissing_ Raven. The _real_ Raven.

Had he freaked her out because he'd managed to mumble her name in his sleep while he had dreamt about her? Had she been traumatized? Grossed out? What was she doing so close to him anyways? How had she wound up practically sitting on his lap? The memory alone was reason enough to make his face grow hot, and his loins ache with something far more primal than he'd care to admit.

He _needed_ to know.

He _needed_ to find her.

"So, uh…what exactly made Raven's powers go on the fritz?" Robin's voice interrupted Beast Boy's train of thoughts.

The changeling quickly realized that his friends were still awaiting some sort of explanation about the mishap that had occurred in his room, as well as why their fifth member had somehow gone off the radar.

Beast Boy grinned sheepishly, aware that the truth, in this scenario, would only out Raven as a liar, and embarrass Robin and Starfire in the process. Not to mention, the fact that he'd have to admit to kissing her in his sleep. That certainly wouldn't have gone over well with the lot of them, and while he still needed to figure things out with the empath, it was probably a good idea to lay low on the subject entirely.

"She, uhm, she wanted to take out the demon in her room. I tried to stop her, cause the spell wasn't quite right, but she was insistent, so I told her I'd go with her just to, uh, make sure she didn't die or anything," he fumbled, hoping he wasn't being obvious with the fib while he twiddled his fingers.

Under normal circumstances, he might have appeared more aloof. However, currently, he felt as if he'd been thrown off balance by the events that had taken place between him and Raven, and he was already in a heap of hot water with _her_. For some reason, he was also having a hard time recalling all the details he and the demoness had discussed over dessert on their 'date'.

"She teleported in there, and the monster, uh, _creature_ , it lashed out. Things got ugly quick, so we managed to escape back to my room, but Raven was still a bit shaken. I guess she, uh, might have had a tiny freak out when her spell didn't work? I'm not sure, but after she dropped me off, she disappeared into one of her portals. Didn't really say where she was going or anything, just that she had to leave before things got worse…," explained Beast Boy.

He had to hand it to himself; it wasn't bad considering how he had made it all up on the spot.

"But, Beast Boy, how is it that the hell-spawn did not make you its thrall?" Starfire queried, gauging him carefully from head to toe, a look of suspicion in her eyes.

Right.

He almost forgot about that part.

"That's simple!" Beast Boy replied, his voice breaking ever so slightly. "It was focused on Raven the entire time, since she was reading the spell and all," he hastily claimed.

Beast Boy could feel Victor's cybernetic eye boring into him, his mouth a tight lipped frown as he folded his arms over his wide, mechanical chest. Cyborg said nothing, but it was written all over him, how much he disagreed with the current state of affairs. Beast Boy could practically hear his voice in his head, reminding him how much less trouble this would all have been had they simply come clean when he said they should have.

Garfield swallowed; the idea of telling the others the truth, now that he was aware of Raven's lips in such an intimate manner, was far more terrifying than coming up with an elaborate lie. However, Cyborg didn't know that.

"Do you have any clue as to where she might have gone?" Robin pressed, concern colouring his gruff voice.

Beast Boy shook his head slowly in response, once again feeling culpable for Raven's disappearing act.

"Then we must go look for her!" Starfire commanded, her eyes aglow with a newfound fury.

Cyborg sighed. "Sure thing, Star. Maybe the two of you'd like to put on some clothes first, though?" He pointedly looked at the tousled and mostly nude appearance of both the Titan leader and his stunning girlfriend.

"Of course! We shall change, and then go seek out friend Raven. We must find her and put an end to this creature's life before it causes any more trouble!" Starfire flew towards her room, not caring for the blatant gawking the three boys participated in as she went.

"I hope _my_ future girlfriend shops at the same stores Star shops at," Victor admonished, making note of the quality fabric and lacy, shimmering bra and panties the golden skinned girl had so brazenly flaunted.

A low growl rumbled in Robin's throat. "There's no time to waste; we need to go find Raven. Cyborg, get the T-Car ready. I'll take the bike. Beast Boy, you and Starfire will take to the skies. That way, we'll be able to cover more ground in a shorter span of time," he instructed before making to disappear into his own bedroom.

Once Victor and Garfield were left alone, the pregnant silence that settled between them was thick enough to choke them both.

"So," Cyborg started in a low and surprisingly calm tone, "You gonna tell me what _really_ happened, or what?"

Beast Boy gulped uneasily, developing a cold sweat. "You wouldn't believe me if I did," he confessed, and that was the truth.

There was a flicker of amusement in Victor's brown eye, and a corner of his mouth twitched. "Try me," he countered, his arms still crossed over his chest.

It was all the changeling could do to avoid his teammate's interrogating stare.

With a heavy burdened sigh, Beast Boy tried elaborating, but also did not want to lie to his best friend; "I wish I could tell you, Cy, I really do, but it isn't my place to do so. Not without Raven. This whole thing has gotten… _personal_. I need you to trust me right now, and help keep Starfire and Robin preoccupied until I can find her. Please?"

A moment passed between them, all the while the oldest Titan sized up the green skinned shapeshifter before him, as if to be scrutinizing his honesty before finally drawing a conclusion. Unfortunately, just as Cyborg opened his mouth to reply, the alarm in the Tower went off.

Its loud, obnoxious noise blared throughout the halls, the red light flashing throughout the corridor and effectively garnering all the Titans' attention, save for Raven, who was still nowhere to be found. Beast Boy and Cyborg shared a look as both Robin and Starfire came bursting out of their rooms, fully dressed this time.

Robin appeared grim, his brows furrowed together and the muscles of his jaw twitching to life. "Plasmus. He's attacking the city. Sources say someone helped break him out as a distraction," Robin told his team. Then, in a more defeated voice, he surmised; "Finding Raven is going to have to wait until we deal with this. For now, we have to trust that she's safe and able to take care of herself."

With his head hung low, and his shoulders hunched over, their leader walked away, evidently frustrated with his own direction, and the horrible timing of a very tedious villain.

* * *

Beast Boy didn't like being dispatched on any other mission while one of his teammates was currently missing in action. Thoughts of Raven plagued his mind and were at the forefront of his thoughts, which was why he couldn't concentrate on the current fight at all.

Without the empath at their side, the Titans were ever so slightly losing the battle with the giant sludge-like monster. Starfire's starbolts did little more than irritate the creature, while Robin's contraptions were easily lost in it's massive, scarlet body. Cyborg fired at it, but all his efforts were wasted as Plasmus simply absorbed his attacks. If they were lucky enough to blow up parts of the monster, the sludge only found its way back to him again, congealing with the rest of his body.

"This ain't workin'!" Cyborg grimaced, dodging just as Plasmus punched a hole in the part of the street he'd been standing at only moments before.

Beast Boy then shifted into a hawk, flying above Plasmus' head to try to both distract and annoy him. The monster swatted at him angrily, and Beast Boy did his best to evade him, only to get slammed into a building shortly after. He skittered down against the smashed glass, over fifty feet high, too groggy from the impact to shift again and save himself from a nasty tumble to the ground.

"Starfire! Get Beast Boy!" Robin ordered, distracting Plasmus with a few explosive birdarangs that he had carefully scattered throughout his slimy exterior.

The alien princess rushed to her comrade's aid, but was thwarted in her plans just as Plasmus grabbed at her with his toxic, dripping arm, holding her in his clutches while she struggled to break free.

"Beast Boy!" Robin cried out in vain, running towards him despite knowing his efforts would be futile.

The explosions the team's leader had set into Plasmus' body went off one at a time, seconds apart from one another, and it had been enough to throw the massive monster off balance for the time being. It was all Starfire needed to break free of his clutches, and although she wanted nothing more than to incinerate the creature with her eyes in an act of vengeance, the urgency to get to Beast Boy was far more pressing. However, neither of the Titans would be able to make it to him in time, as Beast Boy tumbled to his doom with increasing speed and velocity.

Just as the changeling's face was inches away from colliding with the cold pavement, a surge of black energy caught him, saving him from certain death, and from turning into a pile of green mashed potatoes.

"Raven!" Cyborg shouted her name as he spotted the empath floating overhead, her eyes white and luminescent with the immense power coursing through her. She created a platform out of her spiritual self, and gently settled an unconscious Beast Boy on it before fixing her sights, and her rage, onto Plasmus.

" _Azerath Metrion Zinthos_!" She chanted her mantra, aiming all of her her strength at the scarlet bodied monster.

The shadow entered him, disappearing beyond the warm, red sludge, and causing Plasmus to groan out in agony, clutching at his head. The monster stumbled backwards as he let out a deafening howl that shook the heavens, his every step a thunderous crack in the earth. Raven let out a fierce battle cry, dispersing her energy from within him even as it manifested in the air, cascading down her body, and enveloping her angry fists. As she stretched out her arms, bits and pieces of the monster went flying, coating the city in the disgusting, pigmented sludge. The explosiveness of her powers whittled the creature down until all that remained was the human man. He stayed naked and nestled deep inside of a crater that Plasmus had created in the pavement, knocked unconscious for the time being.

Beast Boy sat up groggily, rubbing at his head and wincing from the pain. " _Ugh…_ ," he moaned. It always took a while for his healing to kick in, but once it did, he was usually off to a quick recovery. "What'd I miss?" He asked, looking around at the havoc they'd created trying to stop Plasmus. When his blurry vision took in the familiar silhouette of a series of Ravens, he had to rub at his eyes before believing what he was seeing. "Raven…," he mouthed her name, eyes wide and lips parted in surprise as the illusion of all the flickering versions of her united into one.

She, on the other hand, hadn't spared him a glance; instead, she floated overhead, her long cloak billowing in the wind as the officials apprehended Plasmus with great care. There was a look of consternation on her face, and Beast Boy couldn't help but notice that it wasn't the ground he was sitting on. He nearly recoiled when he saw the darkness of the shadow holding him up, before slowly coming to understand that Raven had saved his life. She had shown up just in time, and _saved_ him.

"Are you okay, B?" Cyborg rushed over to him, winded from the prolonged battle. His operating systems had probably taken a beating, and he was in desperate need of a recharge. Plasmus' acidic goop had a negative effect on Cyborg's robotic parts, especially when he'd been robbed of a decent night's sleep.

Beast Boy stood up uncertainly, casting a careful glance at the levitating girl in the distance before hopping off the energy platform she'd created for him.

"A little dizzy, but I'll be okay," the changeling answered, grimacing as he touched the sore spot on the back of his head. There was a bump the size of three goose eggs where Plasmus had smashed his skull into the building wall.

Cyborg's judging gaze then trailed off towards the demoness, hovering in the city sky. "Rae's sure got some impeccable timin'," he commented sarcastically, tongue in cheek.

"Friend Beast Boy! I am sorry that I had failed you!" Starfire gushed, gliding towards Beast Boy and tackling him into a fierce hug that nearly knocked him off his feet. "I am glad to see you are unharmed! Had Raven not shown up when she had, I feared…I feared…," the golden girl trailed off, holding the shorter boy at arm's length while turning her head and closing her tearful eyes.

"It's fine, Star, no really…I know you'd never let me down." He spared her a genuine smile, but the truth was, he was anxious to get to Raven.

He could make her out from just beyond the tall girl's shoulder; the other female Titan had slowly come down to the ground, where Robin was fast approaching her after Plasmus had been escorted off the premises.

Raven had removed her hood to face her leader, the late-night breeze catching the silken violet strands of her hair, and whipping them gently about her face. The crimson coloured jewel in the centre of her forehead gleamed in the streetlights of the city, sparkling to life.

"Do you wish to speak to Raven?" Starfire queried, catching, and following the line of his earnest gaze.

Beast Boy nodded curtly. "It's sort of important that we talk, uh, _alone_ …," he acknowledged.

However, Robin was currently speaking to Raven, preoccupying her, and judging by their body language, it was terse at best. Beast Boy waited impatiently for their leader to finish so that he could approach her shortly after. Cyborg placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to put a stop to Beast Boy's incessant fidgeting. "You're wiggin' out, dude. Chill," he instructed, noting the changeling's nerve rattling tells.

Victor raised an eyebrow, more curious than ever about what exactly had transpired between Raven and Beast Boy.

By the time Robin was finished with the empath, Beast Boy felt his palms grow slick with sweat, his heart racing, and his mouth go dry like someone had stuffed wads of cotton balls in there. Just as Robin moved to reunite with his teammates and inform them of the situation, Raven had lifted off the ground, levitating away, raising her hood in the process so that it obscured most of her face beneath its dark, bird-like shadow.

Panicking as he realized his window of opportunity was coming to a quick close, Beast Boy acted without thinking. He ran after her, pushing past all of his other stunned teammates while crying out her name; "Raven! Raven, wait!" He hailed her, trying to catch her attention before she was out of ear-shot.

It was enough to give her momentary pause.

The empath stopped midair, turning to address him from her spot where she hovered in the sky. When their eyes locked, his cheeks involuntarily coloured; he didn't know what to do now that he had her undivided attention. He kicked his foot shyly, tucking his arms behind his back. "Uh, I-I think we should talk…about what happened…," he tried, looking away from the intensity of her amethyst stare.

Raven closed her eyes, remaining passive. "I need to be alone right now," she announced definitively, her gravelly voice cold and distant.

It astonished him, how much time he'd spent making progress with her only to watch it fall apart so effortlessly. There was no hint of warmth in her expression, no colour to her pale lips or cheeks, no life in her tone. Beast Boy's shoulders slumped forward, and he glared at the ground, defeated.

"I'm sorry," she whispered faintly, but by the time he looked back up, she was gone.

Beast Boy's self doubt was back in full force, and he berated himself for having so royally destroyed their already fragile relationship.

"She just needs some time to figure out the spell without any distractions," Robin reassured him, approaching the perturbed youth.

It took all of Garfield's willpower not to turn around and yell at the lot of them; to not just come out and tell them that there was no such thing as a banishing spell, or a demon invading Raven's room. That he'd overstepped his bounds and kissed her, and that was why she was avoiding him.

This was all _his_ fault.

He'd been selfish, trying to keep her around.

Instead of saying all this to his concerned teammates however, Beast Boy stayed quiet and kept his inner turmoil to himself. He skulked away from both Robin and Starfire, only to be pulled aside by Victor, who could easily sense that something was deeply bothering his friend. "Look, maybe there's somethin' I can do to help, but I can't even try if you don't tell me what's goin' on," he conveyed in a low voice so that Robin and Starfire couldn't overhear.

Beast Boy pulled away from him roughly, yanking his arm free in agitation. "I _don't_ want to talk about it without speaking to Raven first. Let it go already," he growled before shifting into a green eagle and taking off into the clear night skies, not looking back once.

* * *

"A carnival!" Starfire exclaimed excitedly, zipping up into the air. "It shall be so much fun, and perhaps even Raven may change her mind and wish to join us for such an evening!" The alien girl collapsed into the red sofa dramatically then, the paper advertisement still clutched in her hand. "It has been days since she has solely taken on the burden of banishing the demon." Starfire sighed, pouting. "I miss my girlfriend…"

"You honestly think _Raven_ would want to go to a carnival, of all places?" Cyborg chuckled, shaking his head. "That's as likely as finding Beast Boy at an all you can eat meat buffet."

Starfire sat up, resting her chin on the head of the couch to fix Victor with a disconcerted look. "Our friends are not acting like themselves. Does this not concern you, Cyborg?"

Victor shrugged. "Rob's always buried in his work. The second Brother Blood's name was dropped at the scene of the crime when Rae took down Plasmus, we all saw it comin'."

The flame haired warrior rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I do not mean Robin. It is Beast Boy and Raven that I speak of," she clarified. "Friend Raven has not returned home for days now, and friend Beast Boy does not leave his room anymore, unless it is for the food. Even then, he takes his meals back to his bedroom, refusing to eat with us."

Cyborg's jaw clenched, his brows furrowing. "Raven's workin' on the spell. B's just busy cleaning up the mess she left behind. They'll be back to normal before you know it."

Starfire was not easily convinced, and her expression soured at Cyborg's dismissive words. "Attending the carnival will be good for the _team_. There will be the roller coasters, the bopping of the weasel, the test of strength, and cute prizes! Not to mention the delicious cotton candy that melts in your mouth!"

Cyborg raised his hands in defense. "It ain't me you gotta convince, Star."

She soared into the air, a look of determination settling in her features. "We are going. I will not take no for an answer."

Before anyone could stop her, she glided through the tower, towards the sleeping quarters of her friends, only stopping before Beast Boy's bedroom where she carefully hovered outside of his door before knocking gently. "Friend Beast Boy? Would you like to attend the carnival festivities with me tonight?" Starfire motioned to the flyer still in her hand, as if he could somehow see her from beyond his walls.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy groaned into his pillow, stuffing his face into its softness so that his nose was consumed with the scent of Raven's hair. His bedsheets smelled like her, practically soaked in her heady aroma, as if to be a torture device all on their own. Like it wasn't bad enough that he was haunted in his dreams, he now had to wake up thinking that he'd find her sleeping peacefully next to him, like nothing had happened. Like nothing had gone so horribly _wrong_.

Except his room was still a chaotic disaster, and the pillow next to him remained untouched and crisp, no creases or stray violet hairs to be seen. It was immediate, the way his heart sank into the pits of his stomach when realization would dawn on him; she was _still_ gone, and it was _still_ his fault.

"Are you not yet awake? It is past the noon!" Starfire whined from beyond his door, knocking a few more times in rapid succession.

Beast Boy grumbled, closing his eyes so that he could try to go back to sleep, all the while knowing it was futile when the girl outside could very well _break_ down his door. Starfire meant well in what she did; this was her way of preventing any of her teammates from entering a depressing, isolated slump. Had the shoe been on the other foot, he'd have probably done the same. Still, these days, he just wanted to be left alone, to wallow in his own misery and guilt while he slipped in and out of dreams. He could barely look at his gaming console anymore, not when all it did was remind him of a certain purple haired Titan. When he did seek an escape from the torment of his own degrading thoughts, he often reread a few comics, trying to ignore the fact that he'd purchased them with Raven. She'd also left the novel he'd gotten her in his room, and he'd effectively hid it underneath his bed; out of sight, out of mind.

How had everything somehow been tainted by her memory, pervaded by her _smell_? He could barely exist in his own bedroom without being consumed with thoughts of _her_.

"Garfield Mark Logan, if you shall not open this door, I will be forced to break it down in the following ten seconds, starting now!" Starfire forewarned, bringing Beast Boy out of his dream-like state at the enunciation of his full, birth given name.

Embarrassed, the changeling flung himself out of bed before dashing towards the door on stumbling feet. "Star, how many times do I have to say it? _Gar_ is fine!" He cried out in exasperation as he quickly undid the locks to his door, praying no other Titan had been within hearing range. Starfire had only reached to seven in her countdown.

When his bedroom door swished open, he was instantly greeted with the sight of the lovely alien princess floating midair, a toothy grin plastered onto her face, and her hands suspiciously tucked behind her back. "I know you prefer Gar, friend Beast Boy, however, saying your full name has garnered me the response that I sought. Now, there's a carnival in town for the weekend and I would very much like us all to go!" Starfire shoved the pamphlet she was holding towards the unsuspecting changeling, still wearing her dazzling smile.

Beast Boy rubbed his index fingers along his temple nervously, and hesitated. "Thanks, Star, but I'm not really up for it," he confessed, trying to let her down easy.

Starfire's smile fell. "But, you must! Friend Raven has also agreed to be there!" She persisted, grabbing Beast Boy by the arm.

A look of alarm passed through his features at the mention of Raven's name. "Are you sure? She said yes? Wait, is Raven _back_?!"

"No, she _ain't_ back, and all Star got from Raven was a maybe, when she called her up on the communicator. She's just tryin' to get us all to go," Cyborg interjected as he appeared around the corner, fixing Starfire with a weighted look that elicited a sheepish grin from the red-haired Titan.

Beast Boy gulped at the lump of disappointment lodged in his throat, his eyes downcast. "Oh…"

Initially upon Raven's impromptu leave of absence, she'd turned off her communicator entirely. However, after the fight with Plasmus, Robin had convinced her to keep it on so that they could reach her in case of an emergency. He promised her that they would not disturb her otherwise, and promptly told Beast Boy and the others the same. Starfire had seemingly disobeyed both Robin and Raven's wishes, but Starfire wasn't the one Raven was upset with…

"So, will you be attending?" The alien girl pleaded, blinking her pretty lashes at him.

Despite his initial misgivings, even Cyborg seemed to agree with Starfire's sentiment. "It'll be good for everyone to get out of this cooped up tower," he admitted. "Robin's been obsessing over Brother Blood, and why he'd have freed Plasmus on the city, Raven's been gone too long, and _you_ won't get out of bed, B." Cyborg gave his friend a genuinely troubled look. "I'm worried about you, man. You don't look like you've gotten an ounce of sleep."

Cyborg was the resident physician of the Teen Titans; he wasn't quite a doctor but, in a pinch, he certainly was handy. As such, Victor often performed routine physicals for the Titans, and when he'd stumbled across Beast Boy's medication history, it might have slipped out that the changeling had been dealing with bouts of depression throughout most of his life.

"I'll just have an energy drink or something, but I guess I'll come," Beast Boy decided with an indifferent shrug, feeling somewhat at fault for having worried his friends so much.

Starfire squealed happily. "Fantastic! I shall go and fetch the boyfriend!"

As she flew away in a blur of red, purple and green, Beast Boy exhaled through his nose, and slumped against his doorframe, catching Cyborg's attention.

Victor sighed heavily as he scanned the exhausted looking changeling. "Look, I know you said you didn't wanna talk about this thing with Raven until you two get things sorted out, but maybe this can be your chance to get her alone. She wouldn't have told Starfire she'd think about it without realizing you'd be there, too. Might mean she's ready to talk," Cyborg reassured his best friend. "If you need anything, you know you got me." He patted Beast Boy on the back with his mechanical digits, his voice sincere and encouraging while he mustered up a small smile.

For the first time in quite a few days, Garfield felt a little bit more optimistic. "Thanks, I really do appreciate it, Cy."

* * *

Three rides, two cotton candy sticks, and one giant, blue teddy bear later, and Raven was _still_ nowhere to be found. Beast Boy was constantly on edge, his teeth gnashing together at the slightest flicker of blue and purple in the corner of his eye. Starfire and Robin were very clearly treating the outing like a date, walking a little bit ahead of the others, their fingers slowly entwining as they canoodled closer. It would have been adorable if Beast Boy wasn't so busy feeling down on himself.

"Think they're gonna get married?" Cyborg nudged him, motioning towards the couple before them, where Starfire was now resting her head against Robin's shoulder affectionately. The team had opted for civvies during the outing, with Robin still donning his mask in the event there were snooping paparazzi around.

"I'm the wrong person to ask, dude," Beast Boy replied, staring through the crowds with his eyes peeled, his ears pricking for any familiar sound, and his nose in tune with Raven's scent should he catch a whiff of her in the vicinity. Unfortunately, all the park grounds currently stunk of was corndogs, popcorn, and people.

Cyborg chuckled. "You, Romeo? Ain't you on some kinda mad hunt for your Juliet? I thought romance was your thing!"

Beast Boy shrugged apathetically. "I talk big, but you tell me, how many girls are lining up to date someone with green skin, fangs, unwanted body hair, claws, and pointy ears? Last I tried asking a girl out, she called me a green _gremlin_."

Cyborg's good humor evaporated, his face souring upon Beast Boy's unfair analysis. "How many you see linin' up for a half man, half robot?"

Garfield regretted his words immediately; being in an emotional slump had his brain rattled, and his feelings completely scattered and out in the open. Under normal circumstances, he'd have never said that to Cyborg, of all his teammates. Maybe that was why it was so hard to watch Robin and Starfire, when Robin was the perfect, exemplary specimen of what a true, red blooded male should look like; should _be_.

Beast Boy sighed, the heaviness of the silence between him and Cyborg weighing on his shoulders like he was Atlas himself. "They'll get married, probably. Have a kid or two…," he answered, but his heart wasn't in it.

Guys like Robin _always_ got the girl.

"Friends! The test of strength is up ahead! Shall we compete to see who is the strongest among us?" Starfire exclaimed happily, turning around to smile at the other two Titans.

Despite knowing _exactly_ who that individual was, the group made their way towards the shorter line at Starfire's behest. The people crowding around the brightly lit machine were predominantly males wishing to participate in the activity in what was probably a vain effort to impress their dates.

"Oh, it's Beast Boy and Cyborg!" A few of the girls nearby giggled, realizing too late that they'd been louder than they'd thought.

Victor gave them his best heroic face, being sure to lay on the charm with his handsome smile.

"He's obviously going to win the high score," they whispered, admiring the structure of his robotic finesse.

Robin shook his head, chuckling to himself, "Think you got what it takes this time, Cyborg?"

Victor ignored his leader's question and, instead, set to work on tinkering with his specs to maximize them. He opened the compartment in his wrist before punching in various numbers and codes with a set look of determination on the human aspects of his face.

"Has Beast Boy always been this cute in person?" One of the attractive girls queried, catching Garfield's eye before turning away with a blush as her friends snickered behind their hands.

"I wonder if he can turn into a puppy!"

"Or a kitten! So _adorable_."

"I think he looks pretty good like himself, too."

"Beast Boy's always been my _favourite_ Teen Titan! Do you think he'll notice me?"

Much to everyone's surprise, Beast Boy did not jump at the opportunity to flirt back with his fans. Instead, he appeared distracted; his daring green eyes scanning the crowds like he would have done were the Titans on a job.

"Uh, B? Remember that conversation we had earlier about pretty girls linin' up? Well…heads up; pretty girls. In a line. Talking about _you_." Cyborg tried to elbow the changeling to get his attention, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"Starfire's gonna win anyways, Cy. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it," Beast Boy replied absentmindedly, standing on his tip toes to look over a few heads.

"Huh?" Cyborg stared at the changeling with a wide eye, confused, and perplexed by his words.

Garfield continued to survey the sea of people around him, eager to catch a glimpse of Raven, if she were in attendance. He didn't even know what he was going to say, or how exactly he'd go about broaching the topic without blundering like he always did, but if she didn't turn up, all of it would have been for nothing. He had to at least _try_.

 _Hey, remember how we kissed?_

 _So, was that real or…?_

The idea alone was giving him heart palpitations, and making him want to turn tail and run. The apprehension was killing him.

Cyborg, realizing Beast Boy was currently a lost cause, kissed his teeth and went to pick up the hammer. He lifted it over his head and let out a fierce roar as it came crashing down onto the plate, the red and gold numbers lighting up very nearly to the top of the machine. There was cheering and whooping as he effectively impressed the crowds. He took a small, gracious bow, satisfied with his handiwork, as everyone in the vicinity applauded. Cyborg had easily beaten all the previous challengers, and had settled a _new_ high score.

He took another few bows just as Starfire excitedly ran over to him once she'd handed over her stuffed bear to Robin, who was easily dwarfed by the massive thing. "How marvelous! Your strength is exceptional, my comrade! On Tamaran, you would truly be celebrated, and most sought after as a viable mate!"

Her words made the cybernetic man blush where his face was not made of metal. "Uh, thanks, Star."

She nodded, and then went to pick up the hammer as well. With one swift, fluid motion, it came down hard, her pupil-less eyes glowing a brighter, stronger neon green as she drew upon all her formidable strength, all the while, crying out in true warrior fashion.

The lights climbed at an alarmingly high rate, dinging all the way as everyone around marveled at the spectacle. They went up and up and up until there was nowhere left to go, and the top of the machine exploded, frying the entire circuit in one brilliant display of static.

"Did she…did she just… _break_ it?" The vendor at the booth stammered, standing by helplessly as he played witness to the scene.

Starfire humbly apologized then, embarrassingly realizing that she had overdone it. "I am sorry! I suppose I did not hold back as much as I thought. I was inspired by friend Cyborg, and wished to defeat his score, but it was already so high…I will pay for the amends that are needed to fix the contraption." She bowed her head.

"H-holding back? You call that… _holding back_?!" Cyborg shrieked in dismay.

Robin had nothing but a sense of respect and admiration for the girl he was lucky enough to be in love with. "Think of it this way; it's an opportunity to better yourself," he told Cyborg sympathetically.

Victor snarled at his leader. "Watch it, boy blunder. You already know it ain't as easy for me to do that."

"No more arguing!" Starfire interjected, gaining a sense of foreboding from the two most stubborn members of the team. "We are not here to discuss work. We are here to have the fun!" She reminded them, landing between them before the argument could escalate.

The alien Titan then pointed over at the Ferris wheel, where the long line had finally somewhat dwindled. "A ride perhaps?" Something that was not a competition would be just what they needed to cool off.

Beast Boy shrugged, impartial to the goings on around him, even though a few of the girls at the game were giving him waves and blushing smiles. He didn't appear to have noticed. Cyborg, of course, seemed to be in tune with Beast Boy's nonchalance, but remained silent, choosing to observe him for the time being instead, and giving him some much-needed space.

Just as the Titans had moved to join the quickly clearing line in front of the Ferris wheel, Beast Boy caught a whiff of it; sage, citrus, and a hint of sweat.

Beast Boy's eyes went wide, and he searched frantically for the familiar source, only to discover that the somber female was standing right next to them.

"Raven! You have come!" Starfire embraced the shorter girl tightly to her chest, thrilled by her uncanny appearance. "I have missed you so! Please, how does the spell fare?"

"Well, I'll be damned," Cyborg commented under his breath.

Raven appeared just as uncomfortable as usual whenever anyone showed her such unprecedented affection. Then, her expression softening, the empath patted Starfire's back in return. "It's good to see you, too Starfire. As for the spell, it's, uhm…it's coming along, I suppose."

Beast Boy did not miss the way she was avoiding him, or the way it made his chest feel tight.

"That is good news! Does this mean that you shall be returning home soon?" Starfire regarded Raven with a frown, using her fingers to tenderly brush aside strands of her plum tinted hair from her face.

Raven slowly became more timid, inhaling sharply through her nose as she pondered the answer to Starfire's question. "Soon, I promise," she settled on, wearing a tight smile.

"How's the hotel?" Robin asked her, his hands resting on his slim hips.

Raven adjusted her outfit abstractedly before turning to face the group's leader. "It's suitable, thank you, Robin."

Beast Boy couldn't help the gnawing guilt at his subconscious as he realized the situation he'd precariously put Raven in. She had been so scarred by the events that had transpired in his room, that she couldn't even stand being in the tower with him.

"Looks like it's our turn next," Cyborg told his teammates as the Ferris wheel came to a winding halt, slowly letting off the pair of passengers one at a time. The carnival music blared overhead from the speakers the closer they got to the front of the line, the flashing lights on the circular, white contraption glowing bright shades of pink, green, blue, and yellow in a rhythmic pattern.

"Won't you be joining us on the Ferris wheel of lights?" Starfire beseeched her friend.

The empath glanced up at the infamous ride skeptically, her mouth becoming a thin line as she struggled with the urge to say no.

"I guess one ride couldn't hurt," she consented with a ghost of a smile.

As expected, Robin and Starfire paired off when it was their turn to board the ride, leaving Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven awkwardly behind.

"It's a two-person ride…," Beast Boy postulated, breaking into a nervous sweat. There were _three_ of them, which meant one person would be going it alone, and Beast Boy didn't need to do the math to know exactly who that would be.

Suddenly, Cyborg pushed him forward, along with Raven, towards the gate where they were currently seating the next people in line. "Yup! Too bad I don't really like Ferris wheels. They're boring and give me headaches. Have fun, you two kids!" He divulged before waving them off to the ride's handler.

Neither of them had been prepared for it, and judging by Raven's scathing features, she was not happy to have been forced into such a predicament without any warning.

It was too late to back out though, as the handler had motioned them over to the tiny, two-person seat they'd be crammed in for the duration of the ride. They both clambered onto the unsteady ride, making sure that their feet were tucked away safely, and that they were properly buckled in. They were both uncomfortably pressed together, shoulder to shoulder, as the ride was very evidently meant for smaller children, or couples who longed for an excuse to get closer. It was no tunnel of love, but it was still somehow strangely intimate...

Beast Boy took in a deep, shaky breath, his heart going at an increasing gallop, beating a mile a minute. This was his chance, and he couldn't blow it, especially when both Cyborg and Starfire had gone to great lengths to ensure that the two of them could work things out _alone_. Beast Boy nervously drummed his fingers along the bar that kept them inside the cubby, trying to come up with a way to speak to Raven without sounding pathetic, or scaring her away.

"So, uh...like carnivals, Rae?"

He mentally slapped himself.

"Not my first choice," she humoured him, much to his surprise.

The ride had taken off after everyone was seated, and round and round they went in slow motion, bringing them to the very pinnacle of the ride so that they could see all of the park below, as well as the surrounding city. Skyscrapers and lights brought Jump to life, and there was a slight draft in the cool night air the higher they went. The music drowned out the other festive and colourful sounds of the carnival, as well as the chatter of crowds milling about. The moon was an opalescent sliver of a crescent in the sky, surrounded by an army of stars that glittered like diamonds against the deep blue backdrop of night.

Beast Boy felt less uneasy with the conversation after Raven's comment, thinking that maybe he could fall back into a more natural groove with her. "It isn't a library, that's for sure," he joked, trying to make light of the awkward tension between them. Her shoulder was warm where it touched his, despite her lack of a cloak.

Even though he should have been accustomed to it by now, the sight of Raven in civvies was still somewhat baffling to him. Especially when she had decided on a miniskirt and torn up leggings, with a matching black, low cut sweater to boot. It was always somewhat startling, and also pleasant, to see how feminine she would dress.

Round and round they continued to go, every second an agonizing variation of hell for the changeling as he wracked his brain for something to say.

Eventually realizing the that the time he had was precious, Beast Boy just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, gripping the railing so tight, he could barely feel his fingers anymore.

"Raven, we need to talk about the kissing…" His eyes squeezed shut even as the words tumbled out of his mouth, too fearful of how she would react.

Suddenly, the wheel stopped turning, and their dangling cubby jerked forward from the unexpected standstill. Beast Boy opened his eyes just as the hum of the Ferris wheel wound down to a depressing, musical halt. All of the ride's colourful lights had also gone out, casting them in night time darkness, up where they were. There were whispered questions all around as he spotted the handlers frantically running about on the ground, trying to investigate what had caused the unexplained break down. Beast Boy and Raven were stuck at the very top of the ride, with Robin and Starfire directly below them.

He didn't need to look over at the empath to know it was her magic that was responsible. Raven was undoing the belt that held them both down, obviously gearing to make a quick getaway, when Beast Boy grabbed her by the hand instinctively. The action made her flinch, but she didn't fight him on it like he had expected her to. Instead, he held her pale, cold fingers in his grip, and graced her with a candid expression. "Please, don't run away," he pleaded.

With her silence as an acquiescence to hear more of what he had to say, Beast Boy took in a shaky gasp of air, and tried to piece his thoughts together so that he could convey the right words. "Look, I'm not angry about it or anything. I get that I was out of line, and that dreaming of you like that was way inappropriate. I really am sorry that you had to witness it, I'm not sure what's come over me lately…maybe I'm just…lonely…," he trailed off, rubbing his palm against his forehead and brushing his unruly green hair back out of his eyes. "I want us to stay friends, Rae. No matter what, I don't want to lose that. I'll do whatever it takes to bring you back home, to make sure you never have to be that disgusted with me again-"

" _Disgusted_?!" Raven's voice was shrill when she interrupted him, and there was a flash of anger in her otherwise calm features. "You think what happened was because I'm _disgusted_ by you?"

Beast Boy didn't know what else to say or do, so he merely nodded his head, not entirely understanding what he'd done now to make her so upset.

Raven shut her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her index fingers at her temple. "I'm not _repulsed_ by you, Beast Boy. That's not why I had to leave, and it's not why I…lost control," she confessed, her voice losing its previous edge.

Somewhere down below, the carnival employees were reassuring the riders that they were handling the problem, and had called in a few maintenance guys for a quick fix. Meanwhile, in the seat below Raven and Beast Boy, Robin and Starfire could be seen with their lips locked in a passionate embrace, oblivious to what was going on outside of their little bubble.

"You know how my powers work by now, Beast Boy…they're fueled by emotion, and my capacity to release them while channeling my strength. I need to keep them contained always, otherwise they'll consume me, and destroy everything in sight…What happened back at the Tower was unfair to you. I needed to sort out my feelings, to meditate before I endangered you or the others like that again," Raven continued, her violet eyes glassy in the artificial lighting of the carnival.

"So, uhm, if I'm getting this right, does that mean…you _meant_ to kiss me? Like, with intention?" Beast Boy's voice was rattled, his entire body like a bundle of nerves. He was both sweaty and cold at the same time, trying desperately not to let it show that his teeth were chattering with anxiety.

Raven's denial was not forthcoming, like he'd anticipated. There was no whip of anger, no finality that would shatter his self confidence. There was nothing. Raven stayed silent, and when he looked over at her, she was glaring at the ground below with a hint of colour to her pale cheeks. Beast Boy swallowed hard, but the feeling of those proverbial butterflies in his stomach remained persistent.

Was this another dream?

He pinched his thigh, and nearly yelped when it hurt.

In her own way, Raven had admitted to something he'd always thought impossible, that she'd always denied. All Beast Boy could do at this point was openly gawk at her, too stunned and paralyzed to do anything more than admire her pale profile as he struggled to come to terms with what her silent confession indicated.

"If anyone needs to be apologizing, it's me. I took advantage of your kindness. I shouldn't have done that. I…I'd understand if you didn't want to speak to me anymore." Raven broke the lull that had temporarily settled between them, forcing herself to turn her face away from his gaze.

"Raven…," he breathed her name, unsure of what else he could say, of how he could comfort her, or console her, or address the fluctuating, emotionally charged situation that had somehow come to be. "I…I never knew. I had no idea. You've always kept me at arm's length, all these years…" Beast Boy ran a trembling hand through his hair, trying to convince himself that he was just chilly despite the late summer humidity. He was pretty sure that there was a storm brewing, judging by the moisture in the air.

Raven gripped the handlebars before her until her knuckles paled, her jaw clenching as waves of humiliation and embarrassment held her tightly in their clutches. "I'm sorry, Beast Boy…I'm not used to people like you. I'm still getting used to having friends at all."

"Hey, I'm not mad," he reassured her, placing his hand tentatively overtop hers in a show of affection. "All I've ever wanted was to make you happy, Rae. To get you to smile more and be less by yourself. I know what it's like to feel like you're all alone, to think you're unloved. I wanted you to know that none of that is true. You're a part of this team, and a part of this family, and I won't have it any other way. _This_ is where you belong. Right here, with us, at a stupid carnival, stuck on an even stupider kiddy ride that is taking forever to go back in service while Rob and Star have a make out session right under our feet."

Raven's impervious mask of impassiveness shattered as the changeling took her off her guard once more. Her bottom lip quivered, and her brows knitted together, all the while she tried to keep her eyes from watering. She wanted to keep her cool, but she also wanted nothing more than to reach over and pull him into a fierce hug. Yet, Raven was far too frightened to try anything like that, and despite his reassuring words, still felt undeserving.

"As for, uh, the uhm, kissing…I gotta admit, it was…it was kinda nice…" Beast Boy appeared abashed, blushing crimson as he spoke while he fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. "I can barely remember the last time I kissed any girl that wasn't Terra…I'm not exactly what you'd call a pretty boy…," he added with a nervous chuckle.

Raven inhaled through her nose, her face draining of colour. How was she ever going to look him in the eyes again after doing such a heinous thing? Yet again, her emotions were a barely contained storm within her, and there was nothing keeping them at bay save for the impending fear over what had occurred the last time she'd lost control.

Beast Boy, however, remained undiscerning of her predicament. "So, I mean, if you wanted to, I-I wouldn't be opposed to it. I'm not quite sure of where to go from here, but I think I'd be okay with trying it out with you…," he ventured on, still in a fit of discomfort the more he broached the topic.

Suddenly, the scales tipped.

Perhaps Raven was overreacting, and maybe later, she'd come to realize it. However, she was currently in a state of extreme emotional vulnerability, and she had, by her standards, poured her heart out to Beast Boy. Even though he clearly meant well, his response had been not only inadequate, but somewhat insulting.

The empath was livid as she bristled with indignation, rage slowly retaking control ever so briefly. "You'd be _okay_ with it? You'd be okay with _what_ , exactly? Being with someone like _me_?" She snapped, drawing a look of confusion from the changeling.

"Raven, wha-" Beast Boy tried to get in a word, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

"It's fine, no really. I can understand why anyone would be hesitant dating a _monster_ ," she seethed. "At least I can rest knowing that I'm a viable last resort to _someone_ in this universe," she sneered, but there was a biting anger to her tone, along with a more concealed tinge of what could only be described as hurt pride.

"Please, Raven, that isn't what I meant!" He urged, trying to stop her as she furiously fought with the seatbelt.

She was coming undone at the seams, and needed to get away before she lost control again, or let him see her cry. Tears were a sign of weakness that she abhorred. It was already bad enough that he knew of her feelings; feelings she herself had had a hard time coming to terms with.

Ever since Malchior, she didn't think that she could trust someone like that again. She never wanted to misconstrue someone's intentions to such a detrimental fault. The first time had hurt something awful, but _this_? This was somehow _worse_.

Beast Boy tried to say something, anything, very evidently wearing his heart on his sleeve as he was overcome with an increasing sense of urgency.

 _Stop her._

It was like a mantra in his head, forming from something primal, something innate deep within him.

However, he was drowned out by the explosions in the distance, as fireworks were set off for the evening festivities. Sparks littered the sky in a growing sea of vibrant pinks and whites and golds. They whirred in the air before bursting, dotting the night horizon with blinding colour. The perfect distraction. Raven had used her magic to break free of the restraints of the Ferris wheel, having had enough with the struggle while using her unsteady, slippery hands. The blast of dark energy was alarming, and it staggered Beast Boy to see the empath so visibly rattled. He'd never witnessed her like this before; at least not since Trigon had come to reclaim her all those years ago.

He watched helplessly as she got out of her seat and took off to the sky, her eyes brimming with tears she wouldn't dare let him see…

* * *

 _Azerath. Metrion. Zinthos._

 _Azerath. Metrion. Zinthos._

Three little words could mean so much.

Raven hovered on the rooftop of Titan Tower, in lotus position, chanting her mantra to herself as she attempted to clear her buzzing head and quell her disturbed emotions.

When she'd fled the carnival, she'd left in a hurry, not truly thinking as to where she could go. Of course, there was the hotel room that Robin had helped set her up with when she'd requested some much-needed time alone. However, she hated the place. At no fault of Robin's, of course; she simply missed her _room_. She missed her home. Most of all, she missed her friends. That was why, when Starfire had paged her on the comm, asking her to come out with them, she knew she would go, even if she'd been vague in her reply.

Perhaps that was why Raven didn't make her way back to the hotel; perhaps that was why she had decided to go home, to Titan Tower, instead. She'd already subconsciously been making her way there as it was, with the familiar silhouette of the T shaped building visible just beyond the horizon. It was a comfort, seeing it again, and it eased her weary soul if only a little.

Raven had originally contemplated heading to her room, but decided against it upon realizing it would be the first place Beast Boy would come looking for her. Instead, she had opted to venture to the rooftop, and settled for the view of the lake beneath the moonlight. There was something relaxing about the sound of waves crashing against the rocks during the nighttime. Perhaps she'd grown accustomed to falling asleep to its lullaby all these years, and now it subconsciously brought her comfort and peace.

Maybe it would help her drown out the voices in her head that filled her heart with so much sorrow.

 _How could she have been so stupid?_

How could she have allowed herself to believe that, even for a moment, she was worthy of something good and pure? Her father had told her, as had the priests on Azerath, that she was always bred from hate, bred _for_ hate. Raven was destined to be a _monster_ , and no one grew to love a monster. She felt so desolate, so alone and so utterly humiliated. Beast Boy was being friendly; he was being kind to her and, like she had with Malchior, she'd misjudged his intentions. A foolish mistake she had hoped to avoid a second time; a girlish desire she had assumed she'd long since outgrown.

What had she expected?

In the end, she was always destined to be _alone_.

 _Drip._

 _Drip._

Raven felt the droplets of moisture on her brow first, initially mistaking it for her imagination until it came down in more frequency, the rain falling in a steady drizzle. She could have laughed sardonically at the irony; the weather had seemingly followed the tune of her darkening mood, and her equally dreary, grey thoughts. Suddenly, the air was wet and humid, the clear night sky and the moon obscured by the oncoming, angry clouds. The ocean grew more violent with the impending storm, and before Raven knew it, she was soaked.

In a sense, it was soothing; almost as if the rain helped to cleanse her mind, body, and spirit as she attempted to meditate.

Nonetheless, Raven remained distracted despite her best and most valiant efforts.

She could not get the previous exchange out of her mind, try as she might, and it left her feeling gutted and numb. The emotions were overwhelming and consuming. It was a glum thought to realize that no amount of meditation was going to fix her that night.

"Raven."

She heard his voice through the pitter patter of the rain, coming from behind her. Of course he'd find her; of course he'd leave the carnival to chase after her. Beast Boy was nothing if not persistent, and she'd be a stone-faced liar if she denied the fact that she liked that about him.

"You should come inside. It's pouring out," he insisted, taking a few careful steps towards her.

She ignored him, feeling the rain drip down the slope of her nose, over the full curve of her lips, as well as along her spine through her clothes. Raven kept her eyes closed, and tried to focus on her meditation again, hoping he would leave her be, while simultaneously hoping that he _wouldn't_.

She heard him sigh in exasperation, but he remained unrelenting in his quest. "Jump City's on a severe thunderstorm alert tonight, Rae. Please, just come inside before it gets worse," he begged of her.

" _Go. Away_." Her voice was practically a snarl, but the emotion responsible for it was more likely her hurt pride rather than her anger.

Raven's eyes remained tightly shut, her brows furrowed as she desperately clung to what little semblance of tranquility she could find whilst meditating.

"No."

The forcefulness in his tone had somewhat taken her by surprise. Even then, she could still feel the hot tears welling up in her eyes despite the cool drops of rain on her face.

When he spoke again, he was a lot closer. She realized then that Beast Boy was standing right behind her, the rain pouring down in heavy sheets and soaking through his clothes. "Raven, _I'm sorry_ ," he started, enunciating his apology in the sincerest way he could, his expression open and honest. "I never thought of you as a… _last resort_ , or something," he repeated her words uncertainly.

Every moment that passed between them was more painful than the last, and Raven didn't know how much more she could take. Somewhere in the distance, there was a crack of thunder followed shortly by a bolt of lightning, illuminating the otherwise dark, ominous skies. The rain poured down harder, merciless.

"I'm admittedly bad at this, I can tell you that. I mean, look at me. If anyone's the monster, it's me. Plus, I can literally _turn_ into one," he reminded her, extending out his arms so that she could see his bare hands, his fingers resembling animal claws more than anything human. The rain dripped down his forearms in long rivulets, and when Raven had turned to look at him despite her better judgement, his green hair was dark and matted from the wetness. The finer droplets clung to his thick fringe of lashes until he had to blink them away, the clear drizzle making his vibrant, verdant eyes appear crystal like against the water.

Beast Boy licked at the rain that dribbled down his mouth, and surveyed an equally wet Raven in the dreary weather. "I mean, I'm the comic relief guy, Rae, always have been. You want a bad joke? That's me. You need someone to pick on for a quick laugh? Also me." He shrugged diffidently. "I'm used to it."

"Thing is, I've watched a lot of movies and TV shows, I've read the comics; the funny guy doesn't ever _get_ the girl. Most especially not the pulchritudinous one who could kick his butt from here all the way to Timbuktu. Guys like me? We just get rejected, and it's supposed to be _funny_ , because how can we compete with the Robins of the world?"

He paused to rub at his eyes, and Raven briefly wondered if it was only the rain that he was trying to clear from his sight.

"What I'm trying to say is, I've always figured you were way out of my league, Raven. It's why I never even _tried_ , and probably why I put my foot in my mouth back at the carnival." He wiped at his wet hair in frustration, pushing it to the side so that it stopped sending more water down his face. Raven caught the way his hands were shaking. "I suck at this. The last girl who ever showed mutual interest in me, I messed up with so bad, she wound up _dead_. I'm just… _scared_ I'm going to mess this up, too. Except, then I'll be losing both a teammate and a friend, and that's the last thing I want."

Raven knew he was being sincere; although normally, the empath had a hard time reading Beast Boy's emotions when he didn't want her to, it was obvious he was granting her permission in this instance. When she reached out with her empathic powers, she found an unbidden sadness within him, laced with his genuine love and affection for… _her_. The emotion spiralling within Beast Boy was both warm and inviting, and full of longing and secret desires. Raven found the feeling intoxicating, practically contagious, and recoiled before she lost herself to its whim. The chill of the rainfall helped keep her tethered to reality.

Yet again, she felt the fool.

Was she always doomed to be the undoing of her own happiness? Had she learned _nothing_?

Instead of pointing out the more understated aspects of his emotions and what _they_ meant, Raven opted to bring up a rather innocent topic of conversation; something that had stuck out to her like a sore thumb when he'd given her his speech.

" _Pulchritudinous_?" She asked him, her voice unsteady even to her own ears.

Beast Boy blinked at her a few times, his features contorting into puzzlement.

Raven shook her head briskly. "I can't say I know what that word means," she admitted, hugging her arms as a shiver ran down her spine.

"Wow…I managed to stump _you_ on vocabulary?" Beast Boy admonished, his eyes wide in bafflement.

"What's it mean?" She asked, ignoring his jibe, her teeth chattering.

Beast Boy's expression relaxed, his mouth forming into a soft, crooked smile. "It describes someone so breathtakingly beautiful, they're capable of breaking your heart. I read it in a comic once," he explained to her, his tone somehow velvety amidst the loud downpour of the storm that surrounded them.

Despite the cold, despite the rain, Raven was overcome with a warm, fluttery feeling starting from the depth of her loins and moving up to her maddened heart. Her face was flushed, and her ears pink, and even her toes wiggled with the heat of the emotion. "Oh…," she whispered breathily, far too flattered by his flowery description of her to hold his knowing gaze.

There was another crack of lightning in the sky, this time, much closer to the tower. Beast Boy's eyes flickered to the blackened, tumultuous sky, now roiling with puffs of dark gray clouds, carrying their rage within them. "We should really head inside, and I won't take no for an answer, Rae. If you stay out here, I'm staying with you," he warned the empath.

Raven frowned. "I can handle some bad weather. You're the one who'll get sick. Please, go back into the Tower, Beast Boy." There was genuine concern in the way she said it this time, as her emotions had somehow begrudgingly been appeased with his soothing words. Once again, she was in control, and if she wasn't in so much denial, she'd have allowed the small spark of happiness to catch fire within her.

"Then I guess I'll just have to get sick."

"Gar… _please_ ," she implored him.

The changeling shook his head. "Nope. You can say my name all you like. I'm not leaving without you." Beast Boy folded his arms over his chest defiantly.

He wasn't wrong; she was soaked to the bone and shivering, her teeth chattering and her lips no doubt turning a cyanotic blue. Although her demon heritage prevented her from catching most inconvenient human ailments, she was _not_ impervious to the cold.

Instead of turning back, Beast Boy stepped closer to her, taking in her dishevelled, wet, shivering state with a look of pity in his eyes. With his body so nearby, he had temporarily blocked the vicious wind, and gave Raven a brief respite from it's biting chill against her wet face and hair. It had been piercing through her soggy clothes like they were paper, causing almost all of her porcelain skin to come alive with goosebumps. Beast Boy's hands then slowly came up to her arms, trying in vain to help warm her. back up

The rain was relentless, the threatening clouds lighting up before a whip of thunder nearly shattered the sky and the body of water surrounding them. Raven could barely see through the persistent downpour, could barely make out Beast Boy's face as rivulets cascaded down his cheeks, nose, and brow. His deep green hair was matted to his forehead and around his face in thick clumps, his eyes only on her in what felt like both an awkward and charged moment.

She ached to reach up and kiss him, and she knew that he wanted to do the same; the desire bringing his blood to a boil beneath his skin. Raven ran her hands up his taut chest, exploring before stopping to feel the steady thrum of his strong heart just beneath her palm. His shirt was soaked through, but Beast Boy was still as warm as a furnace. He brought his hands up along her shoulders and towards her neck in slow motion, not stopping until his fingers grazed her chin. He cupped her jaw, tilting her face towards him.

Beast Boy then leaned in, quickly bridging the distance between them, and tantalizingly close to her parted lips. She could feel his warm breath against her cheek, her heart in a furious race with time as she anticipated the heat from his mouth.

"Raven…I-I really want to kiss you," he breathed in sharply, the tip of his nose brushing against hers while his gaze slipped lower, to her mouth.

 _Sweet Azar_ , she couldn't possibly understand why he'd hesitated. She was _more_ than willing, more than pliant, leaning into his touch as her body swayed towards him, like a flame in the wind. Like she was being sucked in by an invisible gravitational pull that centred around _him_.

His wet fingers trailed a delicate line down her cheek, searing her wet skin with his hot touch as they went. "Can I…Can I kiss you? Properly this time…?" He asked her, his voice a husky whisper in the small space between them.

Raven's cold fingers clasped around his wrists. She nodded her assent once, her eyes closed.

A moment passed between them, feeling like an eternity for her.

Then, his lush lips were on hers, tender and shy at first, and nothing more than a graze.

He then pulled in closer and kissed her with a bit more confidence, moving his mouth against hers agonizingly slow while Raven melted into him.

Her emotions were like fireworks going off, like the thunder and lightning coming from the heavens. She never wanted the feeling to pass, never wanted him to stop. He tasted like the monsoon rains and cotton candy, and when his teeth grazed her upper lip, she moaned against his mouth. She kissed him back with a slow, insatiable hunger, clinging to his wet shirt until her fingernails dug into the thin material of the durable cloth. The thick pads of his thumbs brushed along her cheekbones, wiping at the water that had marred her perfect complexion.

They didn't part until they both needed air, but he still held her face in his palms, his forehead resting against hers while they panted heavily, breathing one another in. Raven's erratic heartbeat was in her ears, not unlike a frantic drumbeat that was capable of drowning out the rest of the world.

Her scent permeated around him, mingling with the smell of freshly fallen rain on a late summer night, and the salty air of the body of water below them. "The others will be back by now…," he told her, licking his lips to help savor her taste. "We should probably head inside," Beast Boy suggested in a winded voice.

However, he didn't appear capable of moving either, and he had a somewhat goofy smile plastered onto his face that he couldn't do anything about.

Raven rubbed the tip of her cold nose against his. "Wouldn't want to worry them…," she agreed with half lidded eyes, but also made no motion to leave.

Even though knowing this, the couple remained in a romantic embrace on the rooftop of Titan Tower, relishing in the afterglow of their kiss, and everything it meant to them. Beast Boy brushed a lock of her wet, dark hair from her pale face, tucking it behind her ear, while Raven chewed on her bottom lip, and brought her arms to rest on his shoulders, her fingers tangling in his thick, sodden hair affectionately. They stayed this way for quite some time, occasionally smiling like fools and engaging in lingering kisses, until the storm turned into nothing more than a light drizzle, and the clouds had seemingly moved along for the remainder of the night…

* * *

By the time the two of them were back inside, it hit them both exactly how soaked to the bone they were. Their shoes were squelching loudly against the tiled floors of the Tower as they padded along, the dripping sound of water the only echoing noise in the hallway. Beast Boy shifted into a green retriever, and effectively shook out his wet mane, splashing Raven in the process.

"Watch it!" She cried out, backing away while shielding her face with her arms as some of it had gotten in her eyes.

Beast Boy morphed back into his human form, and grinned timorously. "Sorry," he apologized.

Raven shook her head, but the giddiness of what had transpired between them only moments ago was still affecting her temperament. Nothing would quite ruin her mood as she basked in the radiance of such positive emotions. She smiled to herself while wringing out the water from her skirt. Her leggings, unfortunately, were thoroughly drenched.

Together, Beast Boy and Raven rode the elevator in silence, both wearing stupid smiles that lit up their eyes, and unable to mask the furious blush whenever they'd catch the other looking in their direction.

Beast Boy stared up at the illuminated numbers as the elevator worked its way past the many floors of their home, often shaking his head for any remnants of water still in his hair, all the while grinning like a fool. Raven kept her fingers entangled with one another against her lap after brushing her wet hair behind her ears. She stared down at her soaked boots, now a darker shade of indigo blue, and hoped he didn't notice the way she, too, had become so giddy with emotion. An outsider may have felt uncomfortable among them, as if they were simply not privy to an inside joke that Beast Boy and Raven shared. However, between the two of them, it was more like a well kept secret that only their lips could recall.

When the elevator finally came to a dinging halt on the main floor, Beast Boy made to walk out first, leaving Raven to lag behind in the metal box. She caught herself staring at his hands, asphyxiated, and remembered his heartbreaking words the last time he'd addressed their unnatural appearance.

The truth was, Raven didn't _care_ if he had claws.

She didn't care if he had fangs, or that his skin was green, or that his ears were pointy.

All she wanted to do, was hold his hand, to be able to experience that level of closeness with _him_.

Maybe that was why he hadn't expected it, the way her fingers found his palm before intertwining with his in a slip of an embrace. Startled, he looked over at her, only to find that she was shyly averting her gaze while keeping pace at his side.

His heart soared, and he squeezed her hand tightly with his own, careful not to scratch her with his sharper nails.

It was blissful, knowing neither had to say anything.

What they shared in the finer, quieter moments, it was enough.

However, even _those_ instances had a way of coming to an end eventually.

"Beast Boy. Raven. Is there something the two of you need to tell us?"

When the couple had unknowingly walked into the common room, they'd also walked into what appeared to be an ambush. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were all watching them intently, their eyes practically boring into them. Raven, not yet used to public displays of affection, immediately let go of Beast Boy's hand, suddenly self conscious.

Robin approached them then, fixing them both with a tight lipped, stern expression, his arms folded over his chest. Starfire hovered in the background, anxious. Cyborg, on the other hand, stared at them sympathetically.

Raven's first instinct was to look to Beast Boy, but the green changeling had seemingly floundered under his leader's scrutiny as well. "I, uh, I don't know what you're talking about, Rob," he fumbled in response.

"When Raven fled, we became worried," Starfire started to explain. "Beast Boy then took off after her, and we traced his communicator to the tower. We feared the worst, and broke into your room, Raven, expecting a fierce battle…What we found, however, was… _nothing_." There was a look of concern on the Tamaranean warrior's face as she spoke.

Cyborg piped up next, addressing both the empath and the changeling with desperation in his expression. "I _tried_ to stop them, I swear! I told them you were probably fine and to just let you two work it out, but Star was already breakin' down your door, Rae," Victor tried defending himself, trying to appear apologetic.

Beast Boy and Raven exchanged nervous glances, while Starfire and Robin patiently awaited an explanation.

"What's _really_ been going on?" Robin asked tersely, his temple throbbing like it always did whenever he was on a hunch.

Raven, feeling as if the entire thing was predominantly her fault, felt the urge to be the one who had to come clean, as if it were her responsibility alone. After all, this had all started because of her. She knew that it was going to hurt both of her friends, that she would potentially damage their newly budding romance, but she was caught in her web of lies and there was only one way out now.

Just as she opened her mouth to finally admit to the truth, Beast Boy grabbed her by the hand, and blurted out quickly to the rest of the group; "We're dating!"

The room went silent, except for the gentle patter of rain against the glass windows. A pin could have dropped, and been heard in such a tense environment, as all the Titans tried coming to terms with what Beast Boy had revealed.

The changeling squeezed Raven's hand reassuringly, pulling her close even though the empath had turned a stark shade of crimson, her violet eyes wide and panicked.

"We've been dating this whole time. That's why…that's why Rae's been sleeping in my room!" Beast Boy cried out, his neck flushing with the indication of what exactly that implied.

Raven openly gaped at him, along with Victor, who's jaw had effectively dropped.

"She-She's not denyin' it…," Cyborg mumbled in disbelief, pointing at the way Raven kept her hand in Beast Boy's without a word of protest.

Garfield gulped, sparing a shy glance at a bewildered Raven before he continued to explain himself. "I- _we_ wanted to keep it a secret for a while, you know, because it's still kind of new. That's why Raven lied to you, Robin. That's why she made all that demon invader stuff up."

Robin's face seemed to have drained of colour.

"This is _glorious_ news!" Starfire cried out elatedly once the shock of the revelation had somewhat expired. She flew towards Raven, and twirled her around excitedly. "Oh, _finally_! We shall have the girl bonding with the boyfriend talk, Raven! We will have sleepovers, wear facemasks, paint our nails, and discuss all the gross things they do when they believe we are not looking!" Starfire giggled to herself.

"This is actually happening," Robin stated factually, although he remained befuddled on the matter, watching the scene before him unfold as if it were a horror show.

Victor took the opportunity to yank Beast Boy aside. "Want to enlighten me as to when the hell all this happened, B?!" He whispered through gritted teeth.

Beast Boy tried to think back, he tried to remember when it had _really_ started. When had his relationship with Raven started to mean something… _more_?

Had it been today, just at the carnival?

Or perhaps even more recently, such as the rooftop?

No.

None of that sounded right.

It was _way_ before any of this day's events.

"I guess I don't really know myself," he finally shrugged, answering his friend as honestly as possible. Grinning up at Victor, he added, "All I know is, I haven't had a good day like this in a while, and I really, _really_ don't want to mess it up."

* * *

It was a lot easier for Raven to share Beast Boy's room after that. No questions, no confrontations, and more importantly, they could both sleep in as late as they wanted to.

Raven felt slightly foolish for not having told Robin sooner that the two of them were in a relationship; truly, it was ingenious.

Initially, she'd been angry that Beast Boy had outed them to the rest of the team so quickly. She hadn't been adequately prepared for such an interrogation, along with Starfire's unbridled enthusiasm.

The more she thought about it though, the more she realized how clever he'd been.

She scratched at the tip of his ear gently, admiring his handsome face with a sense of pride as he slept peacefully next to her. By revealing the nature of their developing relationship, he'd thrown Robin and Starfire off their scent, hadn't technically lied, _and_ saved Raven from enduring any more sleepless nights trapped between such paper-thin walls. Now, she came and went as she pleased, and the balance to her life, along with her emotions, had returned.

 _Except now, it came with an added bonus of kissing a certain, handsome changeling when he was awake, too,_ she surmised with a smile.

Beast Boy draped his arm around her, his hand tracing along the curve of her spine before landing dangerously close to her backside. He nuzzled into her, burying his nose in her neck and hair, while his careful fingers danced along her rounded hip.

"I know you're awake," she sighed, rolling her eyes.

She felt him grin against her ear, and he pulled her in tighter. "Shhh, lemme enjoy this," he hushed her, his voice muffled as he pressed his lips against the tender spot below her jaw, eliciting a delightful shiver from the empath.

"Didn't you want to show me that hidden cave in the game today?" She teased, running her fingers through his silken hair.

"Mmmm, later…," he purred, inhaling her sweet scent deeply through his nose.

Beast Boy pouted and whined when Raven pulled away from him, taking the warmth their bodies shared with her. She threw the sheets off her, got out of bed, and sauntered over to the game station. Turning it on, along with his TV, she grabbed a wireless controller, and clambered back next to him onto the mattress.

"I want to play," she confessed with a pout.

Garfield couldn't help but chuckle, propping his head up on his elbow while admiring his girlfriend with a genuine sparkle in his deep green eyes.

"So, it's a videogames and cuddle kind of morning?" He asked her playfully, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the sunlight, fangs and all.

Raven brushed her hair with her fingers. "…only cuddling?" She mused, picking at the threads of the blanket.

She heard him let out an amused grunt before the sheets covering his stark, green nudity shifted. The next thing Raven knew, he was leaning towards her, using his thumb to tilt her chin so that she had to stare into his forest green eyes. There was a cocky smile on his lips as he pulled her in closer to him. His voice was barely a hot whisper against her lips, and once again she found herself helplessly entranced.

"Another perk to dating me, Rae? You can kiss me whenever the _hell_ you want…"

And that was exactly what he did…

 _ **~FIN**_

* * *

 **A/N:** _Long. So ever very long. I refused to split this up into two chapters, so have a behemoth of an update. I worked really damn hard on perfecting this (I'll probably find gripes with it in the morning), but in the mean time, please enjoy. Thank you for reading, thank you for the support. I'll be back with a short, sweet little epilogue to tie it all together, I promise!_

 _Anyone with questions or concerns (or wishing to know my tumblr handle) please feel free to PM me! I don't bite. ;)_

 _Reviews and feedback are always welcomed and appreciated, and I sincerely hope you all enjoyed this wild ride as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)_


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